Exalted on High
by Critian Caceorte
Summary: A fanfiction of a fanfiction (namely; YuYugiDigiMoon), this work attempts to detail events taking place within the Rome of this setting. Elements from the Exalted Tabletop Game are included, along with the Digimon, Yugioh and YuYu Hakusho elements already within the setting. Permission has been granted for this series from the original author.
1. Chapter 1: An intro to our characters

**Cardiff, Wales** / **March 31st, 2009/Time Unknown**

He woke up. He wasn't used to what he saw before him. Powerlines, Modern Houses, interposed between ancient homes and farms. Farmers tended to their flocks of sheep, and walls made of old stone created boundaries between the various properties. Cars rode down both the old dirt and new paved roads. It was all so surreal, he was sure this couldn't be what is was, but…

"How… did I get _here?_ "

 **BBC Headquarters/London, England/One Year Later/8:14 AM**

"Be seated, ladies."

The two of them sat down, wondering why their boss had called them into his office. Generally such things only happened for top secret assignments… or being released. And Lily Burkhoff really didn't want that to be the case. She noticed that Natalie, her camera-woman and partner in crime, seemed to be nervous as well. She was sweating up a storm and desperately trying to cover it up, with obvious results. Both of them seemed gulp simultaneously. It was obvious the tension was getting to them. Their boss, noticing their anxiety, merely smiled.

"No, the two of you aren't being fired."

They both breathed a sigh of relief, then stood straighter. If they weren't being fired, then..?

"As you two know, there have been many recent incidents with the "Digital Monsters" in Japan."

They nodded, the images they had seen before fresh in their minds.

"We have been getting reports of similar creatures in Rome from locals over the internet. They have been taking pictures of these things and posting them on various social media websites. The Italian government has been doing their best to silence all of the outcry generated from these encounters. Obviously they can't generate revenue from tourists if all of their tourists are _being eaten_."

"What?" said Natalie, "they're being eaten?"

"Apparently. Which is why I'm sending you two out there to verify this information. I know you're not war correspondents, but we have too many people out on their various duties, and honestly, it helps to have such a linguist be our woman on the scene."

Lily blushed at the praise. It was somewhat known around the office that she loved to learn languages and was already fluent in several. Although how her boss found out was beyond her.

"Please. We need people out there so we can find out what's _really_ going on. I'll give you 24-"

"We'll do it."

Her quick response startled her partner. Natalie's fear of strangers (and strangers fear of her) was just as heard about in the office break room as Lily's linguistics. She stammered when she gave her reply.

"But Lily, we still need to think this through, there's the room and board-"

"We've providing that, along with the food."

"-or our clothes, or the how the people will think of us, or-"

"Come on, Natalie! How did you manage to get a job in the media industry? We don't need to worry about the people, they're probably too shell-shocked by all that's happened to care about reporters!"

Her boss interjected.

"Actually, Natalie has a point. We don't know how the people will react. We're banking on how they've been wanting the facts to get out, but we don't know how this will work with some of the more… sedentary locals."

"Sedentary?"

"There are some words one should never say in public."

"Ahhh…"

"In any case, Natalie, your partner has already accepted the assignment. What about you?"

Natalie looked back and forth between the two of them, before nodding her head weakly.

"If Lily is confident about this… why not?"

"Excellent. We have the plane tickets already sorted out, we just need you to pack your belongings and to gather any equipment you need. The flight will be Saturday. Are you sure you two don't need any other people to help?"

Natalie thought about this, but Lily, being quite impulsive that day, shook her head.

"We don't need anyone else! This is just a simple series of interviews with the local populace! It shouldn't be too difficult."

Natalie was caught tongue-tied once more, but a part of her really admired her partner's amazing courage. _If only I had that kind of self-confidence._

 **A Hotel, Rome, Italy/April 3rd, 2010/0700 Hours**

He got up at the ring of the alarm. He had spent too many weeks at boot camp to ignore the morning alarm, despite 21 years. He was on what his buddies called a vacation, despite how unusual if felt after such a long life of structured time slots; a just reward to himself after finally retiring from the Army. He got done onto the floor and began his daily workout.

He always did his workout, no matter what. That's just what happens after a life in the military. The regiments become habits, then habits become lifestyles. He always understood why other people were often so lax about their own physical health, however. It was a hard thing to do, and he had long since learned that this day and age people didn't want stuff that took a long time or large amounts of effort. They wanted instantaneous burgers and fries, bought from a kid, or nowadays an old woman, working at the counter. He understood why, but he just couldn't bring himself to slouch so much. It… took too much of an effort to just try and not do _anything_ , as strange as that sounded.

When he had finished, he showered, got dressed and walked down to the hotel café. Admittedly, if there was anything he was actually lazy about, it was breakfast. He really loved it when he wasn't the one making it (most likely due to how his comrades kept on joking about his inability to cook eggs.) _It was just that one time, and they never stopped talking about it._ He picked up a plate and got his usual: eggs, sausage, an apple, along with a glass of milk. Then he picked up a paper that was on one of the tables and looked at the headlines. He found newspapers, on average, were slightly better than television news broadcasters in actually talking about the _facts_. One of the headlines caught his eye:

 _More mystery attacks occurring, facts still unknown._

He was grateful that his Italian was still up to par. He had heard about these attacks when had arrived here, but no one in the government seemed to be saying anything. Usually that meant only a few possibilities: Either the government didn't want the information to spread in order to prevent a nationwide panic attack, or because they didn't want to admit that they had no idea how to deal with this. Sighing, he turned to the opinions page.

 **A Nearby Apartment Complex/8:10 AM**

Maria was cooking breakfast. It had been sometime since had first moved here, and while she hated the cramped space and lack of quality everywhere, the place did allow pets.

Which she supposed she did have.

"Davimon, breakfast is almost ready."

Her partner woke up, the sleep still evident in his eyes, well really, eye. He looked just like a little boy with a few minor differences. Namely, the one eye and the little goat's horns on his head. He was dressed in a rather plain medieval garb, and carried a small harp. He was adorable… in his own strange way.

"Okay, okay. You know, this apartment is really stuffy and full of dust."

"Yes, but it's the only one which will allow you! I'm not even sure why that man allowed us to rent this apartment!"

"Well, he did look a little tipsy…"

"I try to ignore those kinds of qualities in people."

"It's not a _quality_ , it's a _fact_. He was red in the face and had trouble walking in a straight line. It's pretty obvious what happened."

"Still, it's pretty harsh to say it out loud."

He shrugged his shoulders, then began folded his arms and began to pray. While Maria was an atheist, she found it a little cute. Though, he never spoke his prayers out loud enough for her to understand what he was praying _for_. Once he was done, he immediately went to digging into his portion of the food.

Maria sighed, then began to eat herself. Once she had finished eating and cleaned the dishes, she put on her coat and shoes and began to walk out the door.

"Have a good day at work!"

She smiled at his almost carefree wish. He complimented people as easily as others breathed. She supposed it was just in his nature. It was almost the punchline for a joke. An atheistic human and a religious digimon walk into a bar… _Hmm, could work._ She closed the door behind her and went off to her job.

She worked at a hotel café near the apartment. It was decent work, though it was only just enough to pay for food, the rent and night school. She put on her uniform, then went to the kitchens to help finish making the rest of the breakfast food. On her way there, she saw a familiar man jogging outside the window. He had only come to the hotel recently, but it was obvious that he didn't really loosen up like the other people who stayed. Probably was just used to a high-stress job.

Turning away, she went to her station and cracked open a few eggs in a bowl.

 **Another Apartment Complex, this one not so Nearby/8:40 AM**

 ***BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP***

"Ugh... remind me why we decided to room together?"

"Because we're twins who decided to attend _the same university_."

She got up off the bed stared sleepily at her brother, who had been sleeping on the couch. It was his alarm that had been beeping and while it helped to wake them both up she still appreciated her beauty sleep. She went to the bathroom to shower and get changed, then, refreshed, walked out to the "kitchen" of the little hole she and her brother now called home. Her brother was reheating some pasta from last night to be "breakfast" and went into the bathroom right after she got out. She sighed. Leftovers, as always.

She sat down to eat while her brother got changed. In truth, she wished she didn't have to room with her twin, but it was really convenient for the two of them. She yawned as she took a look at her reflection in the window.

The two of them had dark brown, almost black hair, which she wore long and he had trimmed. Her hazel eyes stared back at her, almost… questioning. _Questioning what?_ She paid no attention to it. The rest of her face was average, nothing special really, the same for her brother. She was a whirlpool of averages, defying the odds by becoming one _with them_. _I really need to lay off those poetry classes_.

"You really need to lay off those poetry classes."

She yelped in surprise. Her brother just looked at her quizzically.

"Was it something I said?"

"No, no, it's nothing…"

He looked at her for a moment more, then shrugged his shoulders. He began to eat his bowl of pasta while she gathered her things. Her literature class was first this morning, and she wanted to get a good seat.

"Barri, you off?"

She turned back to him at the sound of her nickname. She never liked the name she had gotten, Barbara, and the standard nickname for the name was sacrilege in her eyes. She wasn't a doll! She was a woman!

She closed the door behind her. Baldur just sighed. Their mother had… an _interesting_ sense for naming. Barbara and _Baldur_. One's basically American, and one's Scandinavian. _And we're ITALIAN!_ When he was sure she was gone, he pulled out a duel monsters deck. It was a Constellar deck, one which he had secretly saved up for. His sister really didn't like Duel Monsters ( _who knows why!_ ) and so he tried to hide his cards from her. He still wasn't sure why she never asked about it, they lived in a tiny apartment, how could she have not found them by now? He didn't know, so he didn't ask.

 **Outside the City Borders/9:25 AM**

He looked at the city in front of him, then smiled.

"So this is Rome. It looks peaceful, yet animate, just like…"

He cut off that train of thought. Best not to think of it. Something caught his attention, something which confused him. A group of men were leading another man into the wilderness outside of the city. He watched them, curious, then realized what was going on.

"They can't be… it's broad daylight! Are they doing an EXECUTION NOW? And why…"

He ran off in their direction.

Elsewhere, a pair of glowing eyes stared at the man who just ran off.

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Author's Notes: Welp, this is the introduction for Exalted on High, a fanfiction of another fanfiction, YuYugiDigiMoon. Please note that I have not recieved word back from the author of whether I have permission to create this series. Should his response be negative, I will immediately take it down.

Having got that out the way, this is Exalted on High. Like I said, it is a fanfiction of another fanfiction, taking place in Rome, Italy. I chose Rome to be the setting for this story because I know the Author already has plans for Japan and the U.S. and so I wanted my story to be disconnected from all of that.

I've introduced most of our characters so far. Their will be more as this goes along, but these guys will take center stage. Another thing to note, due to the fact that I would rather not add anymore Sailor Senshi to the setting, I am instead including some elements from the tabletop game Exalted, hence the name. There are also two other franchise I will be including some elements from, but we'll get to those eventually :) .

So far for characters we have Lily and Natalie, our BBC reporters, Mr. Military Dude (his name is Joseph, it'll get mentioned in the story eventually), Maria and Davimon (our digimon representative), the Twins and a mysterious man (his name won't be mentioned for a while). Other's will eventually enter the playing field, but these are the main people.

Another thing to note (and yes, I do say this a lot while writing, it's a problem I have) is that I do not have any beta readers. Anyone who wants to do so will be most appreciated.

Well, I'll be working on the next chapter now. May you continue reading to your heart's content...


	2. Chapter 2: A slight escalation

**The Streets of Rome/April 3rd 2010/1000 Hours**

He took his morning jog, running through the streets. He had memorized some of the streets near his hotel so he wouldn't get lost. The cobblestone roads felt rough under his feet, but being of a rough quality himself, he appreciated. The roads were honest, dependable. _Hold on, why am I giving a personality to the road?_ Shaking his head, he continued plodding along.

 **Rome Leonardo Da Vinci-Fiumicino Aeroporto/10:20 AM**

Lily grabbed her bag off the baggage conveyor. Of all the things about traveling she loved, there was one thing that irked her: Luggage. A necessary evil, but one that still made her disgruntled. And so it was when she and Natalie got on a taxi the BBC had provided that she wasn't in the best of moods. She gritted her teeth as she could _feel_ time slipping by.

"Can't we go any faster?"

Natalie immediately jabbed her with her elbow. One thing she had always held onto, no matter what, was a sense of politeness.

"Lily! The man is just doing his job! It's not his fault that there's traffic today, or any day!"

The taxi driver, knowing at least a few words of English (it was a job requirement), just smiled at the young woman's kindness. _Well, at least a few kids these days are respectful._

 **The Hotel/11:10 AM**

Lily fell down onto her bed in a state of exhaustion. Luckily, the two of them wouldn't have to begin reporting until tomorrow. Natalie was checking the equipment, making sure none of it had been damaged in the flight there. Lenses, the Camera, the microphone… Lily obviously didn't care. She had fallen asleep the minute her body touched clean flannel.

Natalie looked at the newspaper she had picked up from the hotel lobby. Not much information about the creatures or the deaths yet. Relying on her reporter's instinct (despite Lily's insistence that such a thing was probably nonexistent) she cut out the article and taped it in a book for safekeeping. Best to organize what evidence they had. Having finished this, she went down to the cafeteria to get something to eat.

She took the elevator down, noticing how how the people in their seemed to want to get out their much more so than usual. _Do I smell bad?_ A quick pit check confirmed that to be negative. Finally reaching the lobby, everyone ran out while she quietly walked to the café.

 **The Hotel Cafe/11:25 AM**

It was Maria's turn to serve at the counter. With a grin on her face, she helped serve the food to the hotel guests. This kept on for a while until she noticed a surprising lack of people. _That's strange, usually this is one of the busiest times of the day._ She noticed that all of the people who had been eating their meals at the table had quickly but quietly filed out while only one woman walked in. She wore round glasses and had her brown hair tied in a braid. She wore a semi-casual suit and seemed to be a bit nervous. Maria wondered why she seemed nervous… and that was when she felt it. A feeling of fear filled her heart, her blood began racing, her fight-or-flight response seemed to be triggered. _Why do I feel so terrified?_

"Excuse me, um…"

The woman began talking to her in Italian, then looking more nervous than before pulled what looked to be an English-to-Italian dictionary, searched the pages for a few moments before beginning to talk again.

"What are… the specials for… today?"

Maria's eyes blinked in surprise before stammering her reply.

"Umm, well, we this excellent dish with chicken covered in a great Gorgonzola, I mean mozzarella, cheese sauce, with deliciously fried, I mean steamed asparagus with a nice glassofpleasedonteatme!"

Maria didn't know why she said that last part. Apparently neither did the woman. She was awestruck for a moment, before regaining her composure.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa… what's wrong! I-i'm not going to eat you! Why would I do that?!"

Her calming voice wasn't exactly working. Maria began hyperventilating at the concept of her "apparent demise."

 **Maria's Apartment/That Moment**

Davimon was reading a historical text about the ancient nation of Israel at the time. He noticed something interesting in one of the sidebars.

"King David… hmm, sounds like an interesting guy. Looks familiar too."

Suddenly, he felt something resembling a distress signal enter his mind.

 _Help! Help me! Get her away from me!_

"Maria?"

He shot up, putting his things away. _Maria must be in trouble! I need to help her! But she told me not to just go out in public… oh, she'll forgive me later. This is an emergency, after all._ He took his harp and the room key with him as he locked the door behind him, then ran off to his partner's safety.

 **The Streets, Near the Hotel/1125 Hours**

He was walking back to the hotel when suddenly he felt a tugging towards the hotel. The café to be specific. He pulled a card out from his jacket pocket, which was glowing brightly.

"Why now..?"

 **Unknown/11:27 AM**

An alien presence took note of the events that were happening below.

"I'll admit, I wasn't expecting this."

It watched the scene more, before mentally shrugging it's shoulders.

"Well, it's a good enough time as any."

Then he began to chant his awful spell.

 **The Streets, near Maria's apartment/11:28 AM**

Davimon ran down the streets, ignoring the weird looks people gave his way. Unfortunately, there is a problem with having little stubby legs. He was tired before he even got halfway there. Panting, he leaned on a streetlight.

"I don't know… how all of these humans… walk this far…"

He only rested for a few moments, his mind reminding him of the emergency he was supposed to be responding to. He ran off at the same pace as before, his voice shouting:

"Don't worry Maria! I'M COMIIIIIINNNNNGGG..!"

 **Outside the city borders/A Few Hours Back (9:40 AM)**

He had been watching where they had taken the man into the woods. The leader seemed to be saying something in Italian, and for once, he cursed his lack of enthusiasm in the Navy Language classes. The leader of the bunch finished talking, then raised his pistol…

Then he ran out of the bushes at full sprint, pulling his katana out and skewering the leader. It took the minions a few moments to realize what just happened, but only a few. After all, a man coated in your leader's blood is generally something which puts you into action. The men screamed, then pulled out their guns and shot at him, to…

...zero effect.

They panicked, running away further into the woods. He would deal with them later. He noticed the man he saved from the execution looking at him, terrified. His clothes were drenched in the sweat of fear, and his glasses were lopsided. He stammered:

"Wh-what are you?"

He shrugged his shoulders, not sure how to respond. _What do I tell him?_ He gave his answer in all the grace and elegance of his profession.

"I'm just… slightly different."

 **Further in the Woods/11: 29 AM**

He dealt the killing blow to the last goon. He surveyed the woods for anyone else, then he planted his sword into the earth and began to carve a message in the ground.

 _To: The Policemen of Italy_

 _From: A Good Samaritan_

 _Here's your job done for you._

 _Sincerely,_

 _Mab_

That done, he began to clean the blood from his clothes and his blade. This took about a minute or so, before he noticed something strange. A storm had dominated the sky, and lightning seemed to strike within the city itself. A roll of thunder went out, the message it carried seemingly altered by something alien. He took notice of all this, then uttered the understatement of the year:

"Well, that's not good."

 **The Streets/11:38 AM**

Barri hurried down the street, trying to get to the university campus on time. She turned the street corner…

And like any anime trope ever, ran into someone. This "someone" being something quite small. She looked down at the small, but heavy thing. It looked like your average kid… If your average kid has goat horns, one eye and wore clothes which were 3000 years too late. He rubbed his head with one hand as the other clutched a small harp and a key ring. He looked up at her while still nursing his bruise.

"Umm, what are you?"

"I'm… oh how do I explain this…"

 _This… yeah it's a guy… looks really weird. Is he even human?_

Meanwhile, the "kid" was doing some deep thinking himself.

 _Man, I need to explain this, but how do I tell her quickly? I've got to get to Maria! ...And of course, the more I think about this, the more time I'm_ wasting!

"Well, I come from- what's that over there?"

Startled, Barri turned around in the direction he pointed. Seeing that she was suitably distracted, he ran off in Maria's direction. She quickly realized her folly, then ran off after him.

"Come back here, you little punk!"

 **Somewhere, Unknown/11:40 AM**

"Emotion levels are running high, good. Weather patterns are shaping just how I want them to, really good. The rest of people are panicking, also good. Well, my children, we have ourselves the perfect storm for a spell!"

The presence heard the cheerful battle cries of hundreds of warriors, ready to witness, if not participate in, battle. He chuckled to himself darkly.

"Hmm, well, this seems to be doing _wonders_ for the morale, at least."

 **The Skies above the Hotel/11:45 AM**

The storm shifted. Lightning seemed to strike more frequently. Thunder grew louder and louder. And if there was anyone in Rome who could recognize it, they would the presence of _magic_ in the air. Then, the clouds turned sickly colors, lime green and school bus yellow. The lightning soon followed, and a whorl seemed to form in the center of the clouds, before a great *CRACK* filled the air, and a hole in reality formed where the whorl had been. A great shape fell out of it, plummeting down until it landed on the streets below. The people ran in terror, their primal instincts taking precedence over their rational mind.

Of course, even if they were thinking rationally, the result still would have been the same.

The shape unfurled itself, taking the look of a great green beast covered in purple armor. It had the snout of a hound and the tail of a rat, with red hooves for feet. What was most disturbing about it though, was how the individual parts of the body seemed to phase in and out of existence, disappearing, reappearing and replacing itself with what looked like the kind of pixels you would see in a game.

It was a living, breathing (of course, that was debatable) and most of all _hungry_ visual glitch.

It let out a cacophonous shout which ruined the ears of most of the nearby people. It's cries were a strange mix between a wolf's howl and a whale's song, creating a noise that was completely inhuman.

And while hundreds of people left the area, one man merely looked at the abomination in front of him.

 **The Streets, near the Hotel/1146 Hours**

He took a look at the creature, staring at how massive it was. It almost reached the height of the nearby buildings. About 15 feet tall. And the armor it wore, when it wasn't glitching out, didn't look like any metal he knew. Well, Joseph Cain certainly couldn't take down something like this.

But there was someone who could.

He raised the card in his hand in the air, its golden light shining down on him. With it held out, he chanted quietly, but slowly raising his voice as he did so.

" _The first light of the new dawn shall lead to a better tomorrow! Power of the Sun!_ _ **EXALT!**_ "

A beam of sunlight pierced the storm clouds and enveloped his body. His muscles and stature grew, and sleek, golden armor covered his entire body. A golden cylinder helmet covered his head, while a golden tower shield attached itself to his left hand. For his right, a huge, golden sword with a blue hilt leapt into his grasp. A golden aura surrounded his body for a moment, before dying out. The creature in front of him stood, mesmerized by the scene before him. Transformation complete, he pointed his massive blade towards the chimera.

"You dare harm the people of this city? I am Sol, the Golden Knight! Meet me, tooth to blade, monster! KNAVE!"

The beast roared, sensing a challenge. The two leapt at each other to initiate combat.

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Thus, I introduce Joseph's importance to the story. And leave off on a cliffhanger. That too.

Simple sentences aside, I've finally introduced the name of the "mysterious stranger", Mab. Of course, that's not his real name, but that will be explained later. Additionally, I've begun to show Natalie's… power, I guess? To make people uncomfortable..! A note to all readers: if you think you know why people are so scared by her presence, you're probably right. That's doesn't mean you are, it just means it's likely.

Another thing to note: I am currently in discussions with the Author of YYDGM. He has given me permission to write this fanfiction.

Well, I have another chapter to write. I apologize if I'm breaking them up into short parts, I just prefer to compartmentalize these things. I'll try to extend the length in the coming chapters. I'd rather not just average a 2,000 word count for the rest of the series :( .


	3. Chapter 3: Finally some action!

_**The Streets, near the Hotel/11:50 AM**_

Davimon stood in amazement. He was watching a battle worth seeing. The golden knight slammed his sword into the creature's mouth so hard it destroyed one of it's teeth. Having literally struck a nerve, the warrior cried in confidence as the beast roared in rage. "I thought a hound like you came from hell, not the kennel!"

The beast seemed to sense his mocking tone. It reversed its body and sent the warrior flying into a nearby building with a donkey kick. Despite this awesome force, the warrior didn't seem injured at all. He jumped out of the rubble with a somersault, then he ran to meet with the beast once more. Davimon realized right then what was bothering him about this whole fight.

"That armor the creature is wearing… its Digizoid… does that mean it came from the digital world..?"

His train of thought was interrupted by his own memory. He forgot about Maria! "Maria!"

He ran into the hotel where she worked. It didn't take long to find her. She was curled up in a corner of the kitchen, with a another woman trying to coax her out. Something seemed off, but he didn't realize what it was until he moved closer.

Suddenly, his body seemed to burn painfully. He groaned as his suffering increased the more he got closer to that strange woman. _Why… do I hurt… so bad..?_ He almost blacked out if it weren't for Maria noticing him and straightaway pulling him away from the woman's presence. She looked at said woman quite angrily now, her previous fear washed away. She shouted: "Why did you hurt him?!"

The woman was stunned beyond belief. First she had been trying to calm the fears of a woman who thought she was some kind of _animal,_ and now a strange creature had walked in and seemed to double over in pain. Not to mention the usual treatment she got from the other people. She began to cry as all of the stress was getting to her.

"How am I supposed to know? I don't know what's happening, why people hate me, or avoid me, or are afraid of me, or… I DON"T KNOW!"

It was a terrible scene, the people were all crying, for their own unique reasons. Which makes it a good thing that at that moment, the elevator door opened and Lily carrying some of the equipment on a luggage cart came storming through.

"What the hell guys?"

They all looked in her direction, their sadness replaced with lost confusion.

"There is literally the kind of fight you only see in movies going on outside, AND NOBODY IS FILMING IT! Natalie, get your butt over here and help with the cameras. We're the only people on the scene! This is a network gold mine! Do you know how big of a raise we'll get for this? Get a move on!"

The sheer audacity of what Lily was saying pierced through her clouded mind. She got up quickly and began to set up the cameras. Her presence removed, Maria and Davimon mellowed out and got up. She gasped as she saw the monster she had so far ignored. Davimon just nodded when he saw it. "Yeah, I saw that thing on the way here. Based on it's armor, I think it has something to do with the Digital World."

"The Digital world? Isn't that where you come from?"

"Yep, although I have no idea what _this_ thing is. It doesn't look that stable however. It's body seems to be, well, glitching out!"

"Wait, if it's from your world, then wouldn't…"

He nodded his head, sensing what she was referring to. "Yeah, it'll help."

She nodded in reply, then pulled a device, a D-Ark out of her pocket. She swiped a card through the device, and it began to glow. " _ **Card Slash! Evolution!"**_

Data began forming around Davimon's form. He cried out:

"Davimon… _**Shinka!**_ "

His body began to grow and morph. Baby hands became the fists of giants. His sandals broke as the feet grew. His stature became larger than that of most humans, and his muscles expanded so much that his clothes ripped to shreds, leaving only the remains to protect his dignity. His curly hair elongated into large strands, giving him a veritable mane. Horns disappeared, and his one eye split into two, albeit ones that were blood red. He shouted at the top of his lungs, his now deep voice echoing in the halls.

" _ **Samsomon!**_ "

Lily took in the sight. _You know, if it weren't for the brutishness, the lack of hygiene, the hair that looks like it came from a 70's fashion magazine and the, um, well, lack of actual clothes, I might like a man like that._

The now-large warrior let out a battle cry, then charged towards the beast. Through the window.

 _Scratch that. I may have a taste for large men, but even I can't deal with the idiots._

He grabbed the beast by the rat tail, then spun it around, _Super Mario 64-_ style. He threw the beast with a yell. " _ **Tail Twist!**_ " The monster flew into another nearby building, it's pain at the sudden impact evident. It roared, as most mindless beasts do, then charged at him.

Which is when the golden knight slammed into it with his shield. He yelled to his new tag-team partner:"I know not where you come from, beast of a man, but your assistance is welcome!"

Samsomon simply grunted in response. He grabbed a pair of foxes from seemingly nowhere, tied their tails together, then set the now twinned tails on _fire. "_ _ **Roaming Flames!**_ " The foxes yelped in pain, then ran towards the creature, where they proceeded to _explode_.

The three ladies back in the hotel, watching this, said the same thing at the same time, albeit in different languages:

"What."

Their group was soon joined by the presence of Barri, who finally reached the scene. She began panting as she tried to catch her breath. "What the…hell… is going... outside… man, I need to… work out more…"

Lily and Maria immediately moved in to help her sit down. Natalie, also concerned about her health, moved in, but soon stopped when Barri seemed to yell in pain.

"GET! AWAY!"

While Natalie couldn't understand what she was saying, she understood the intent. She stepped back, and Barri's suffering was relieved. She calmed down and began to blink as all that she had seen replayed in her mind.

"What is wrong with this world? Why are a monster and a knight in shining armor fighting? WHY IS THERE EVEN A KNIGHT IN SHINING ARMOR?!"

Maria suggested: "Magic?"

"At this point, I'll take that for an answer. Sigh, I think those guys out there need my help."

The other three looked at her in confusion. Maria was the first to speak up.

"Um, how can you help?"

Barri sighed once more, then slowly began to explain.

"I have this… power. I've had it since I was born. I can make my feel pain if I do something, like for example, play Duel Monsters."

Lily, along with the others stared at her harder, before she began to laugh out loud, miming the lines of a certain _Monty Python_ movie. "She's a witch! A witch, a witch!" She stopped laughing when Natalie elbowed her in the gut so hard she bent over in pain.

"LILY! Just because she can't understand you, doesn't mean it won't hurt her feelings! Apologize!"

Lily mumbled something under her breath. Natalie grew more impatient.

"LOUDER!"

"Fine!" Speaking in Italian, she turned to Barri. "I apologize for making fun of your… admission, I guess. I just find it hard to believe you have that sort of power."

Barri and Maria squinted their eyes at her. Then they pointed outside, where the battle was still raging, with bestial groans being met with "HUZZAH!"'s, and yelled at her.

" _ **REALLY?!"**_

"Oh yeah, I guess that kind of pokes a hole in that idea."

Cue the simultaneous facepalms of three different women. Barri was the first to recover, and ran out into the street. She pulled out a duel disk and a deck from her pack. Activating the disk, she played a card.

"Come forth, _**Assassin of the Inquisition!**_ "

A figure wearing a large black cloak materialized out of thin air. It made no sound as it moved.

 _ **Assassin of the Inquisition**_

 _ **DARK/Warrior/Effect**_

 _ **LVL/4 ATK/1400 DEF/800**_

"Assassin, attack the monster! _**Knife of Repentance!**_ "

It moved at incredibly fast speeds, slicing into the beast's torso. It roared in pain, and the Assassin began to glow with a purple light. Barri quickly played another card.

"Spell Card! _**The Inquisitor Cycle!**_ When a monster on my side of the field has a taint counter, which they get from attacking other monsters, once per turn I can return that monster to my deck and special summon an Inquisitor monster from my hand! I play _**Eisenhorn, the Psionic Inquisitor!**_ "

A pistol appeared behind the Assassin's head, and shot it, breaking it into pieces. The wielder of that weapon was revealed to be a man wearing a green overcoat, a strange sword at his side. He pulled back the gun and looked at the monster in front of him menacingly.

 _ **Eisenhorn, the Psionic Inquisitor**_

 _ **DARK/Spellcaster/Effect**_

 _ **LVL/6 ATK/1800 DEF/1600**_

"Eisenhorn's effect activates! Once per turn, while he has no taint counters, I can place one on him to search my opponent's hand! Now I'll found out who summoned this beast!"

The man touched his fingers to his temples, before crying out in pain. Barri felt the same agony as well, and the wind seemed to carry a voice into her ear:

" _I can't have you finding out my plans, girl…_ "

Steeling her resolve, she gritted her teeth in frustration.

"When Eisenhorn has taint counters, he gains 300 attack points for every one of them! Now his attack points are 2100!"

Eisenhorn was then enveloped by the same purple light that had surrounded the Assassin. He pulled out the strange blade that had been hung by his hip. It began to glow in a hellish light.

 _ **Eisenhorn/2100 ATK (1800+300)**_

"Eisenhorn, attack! _**Strike of Cherubael!**_ "

He charged forward, slicing the monster with the demonic-looking blade. The monster screamed, then crushed the man into particles in it's jaw. Barri reeled from the pain she felt, then noticed the creature bounding towards her. She pulled another card from her hand.

"When a monster attacks me directly, I can special summon from my hand _**The Unexpected Inquisitors**_ in defense mode, and they become the new target!"

Reality seemed to break a bit, much like the 4th-wall in a Deadpool comic, and three men wearing red cardinal's robes popped out. One of them cried out in a comically evil voice:

"NOBODY EXPECTS THE SPANISH INQUISITION!"

 _ **The Unexpected Inquisitors**_

 _ **DARK/Warrior/Effect**_

 _ **LVL/7 ATK/0 DEF/2500**_

The monster, suitably distracted, failed to notice Samsomon and the gold knight brained him in the back of the head. It shook them off, but looked a bit woozy. It teetered back and forth, just begging to be finished off.

 _ **Somewhere else/12:30 AM**_

"Hmm, well, this won't do. They're actually stopping it."

The presence pondered for a moment, deciding between two different choices.

"Do I recall it back? Or do I give it more power so that it can defeat these 'heroes'?"

" _ **Why not both..?"**_

The spirit sat up straighter (metaphorically, of course).

"Sir! I apologize for contacting you recently! I've just been working and planning things all out I've-"

" _ **Be calm, my servant. I understand your reasons. My presence in this world has been very faint, so I wouldn't have contacted you much anyways. I take it things are progressing as planned?"**_

"Admittedly, no. This golden knight suddenly appeared and attacked the demon I summoned-"

" _ **Demon? You still think you are summoning**_ **demons** _ **?"**_

"...Haven't I been doing just that?"

" _ **I will save you the lengthy explanation for later. For now, all you need to know is that no, you are not summoning demons. Your spells are summoning entities from another realm known as the Digital World."**_

"Wait, but-"

" _ **Also, you mentioned a 'golden knight'?"**_

"...yes."

" _ **Then the Sun has sent his champion in this world to combat us. Luna may soon follow, as well as the Five Maidens. We must expedite our schedule."**_

"Very well then, my lord. What about the de- I mean, entity?"

" _ **Didn't I just tell you what to do? I embrace deception, not stupidity, my servant."**_

"Oh yes, I apologize. I will get on that."

" _ **You do that."**_

 _ **The Streets/12:35 AM**_

Just when the warriors were about to finish the beast off, a bolt of hellish lightning struck it, infusing it with terrible power. The creature seemed to mutate as this power filled it's body. It stood upright, 25 feet tall, and it's body rippled as it's muscles expanded. A beetle's carapace covered it's back now, and it's tail became prehensile like a monkey's. As it emerged in it's new state, it howled a victory cry. The puny humans below could only stop and watch it as it increased it's awesome power. The golden knight was the first to respond.

"I'm afraid even I have my limits when it comes to si-"

Lily interrupted him: "Don't say it! We want this footage to be PG! No innuendos in this broadcast! By the way Natalie, are you getting this?"

Natalie weakly nodded, her attention still captured by the humongous monster.

"Good! Now, make sure to- NATALIE! MOVE!"

Lily suddenly shouted as she noticed the monster's tail flying their way. She tackled Natalie to the ground as the tail passed over right where they had once stood. The monster, angry that it missed, turned it's attention towards Samsomon and grabbed him with it's fist. He struggle for a bit, before the beast pummeled him into the ground. Maria screamed out in shock as she saw her partner de-digivolve and pass out.

"DAVIMON! NO!"

She ran towards him to make sure he was okay. The monster followed right behind her. It made to backhand her, but the knight blocked the attack, sending him flying away. The monster made to repeat what it had just done-

-until Mab appeared out of nowhere and sliced the ligaments on it's right leg.

The beast screamed in agony at the sudden pain, clutching its wounded leg. Mab turned to Lily and threw a card in her direction.

"Reporter! Take the card and _BE USEFUL!_ "

She hastily grab the card out of the air. As she did so, it began to glow silver and words entered her mind. She repeated what she heard: "The Moon changes, time passes, all shall transform in the journey for a better tomorrow! Power of the Moon! _**EXALT!**_ "

A silver glow began to fill the area, and all in its vicinity were blinded. What they saw when the light had dissipated shocked them.

%\%\%\%\%\%\%\%

And thus I invoke the all-powerful cliffhanger.

I apologize, but I needed something to end on. Hopefully new exaltation transformations don't become my standard ending of choice. In any case, I have only a few things to say:

I noticed that whenever I showed the location and time, it was bolded, and not italicized. I know that is a _very_ minor detail as part of the original YYDGM story, but I like to keep the essence of it, so I'm try to do that from here on out. Call it a "quirk" if you will (if not outright OCD).

Kanius is his story sometimes, and by sometimes I mean often, "cues" music appropriate for the situation. I'll try to do that eventually, but for right now I'd rather just get the stories all worked out before I do various details.

Another thing I haven't really done so far in this series is the traditional "call out your attacks" thing. I'm still not sure whether I'll do that for the other characters besides the Digimon and the Duel Monsters, but I do have some things planned for that if I so choose.

Yes, eventually we will have Lily making more Monty Python references. I mean, she literally saw the Duel Monsters version of a one of their sketches, how could she not? Also she will mature eventually, she just needs to get the snot beaten out of her first :)

Reviews are welcome. I'm not going to be selling myself out for something like that, it's not like reviews really indicate popularity (along with the fact that this series hasn't existed for very long), but sometime in the future they would be nice.

I'm aware that I chugging these things out really fast, but I would rather I get things out when their racing through my head then try to pull something out when I'm getting nothing. As such, consider all of these quick uploads a bit of a buffer for those times I'll get writer's block (which happens to all writers, it _will_ happen eventually).

Am I really on #7? Hold on… *checks information* oh yes, Samsomon's debut. I was originally going to have Davimon's Champion form to be Solomon, but then I realized that if I can't handle how terrible that pun is, no one could. And thus Samsomon was created. (Something to note, with the exception of his mega form, all of Davimon's forms will be based on Biblical characters. The noted exception will be a surprise :) )

Well, this will be all for now.

Until we meet again,

Critian Caceorte


	4. Chapter 4: The end of the Beginning

_**The Streets, near the Hotel/April 4th, 2010/12:36 AM**_

 **(Cue Killer is Dead OST -** _ **Chosen by the Moon**_ **)**

As the light enveloped her, Lily began to transform. Her hair, normally a long dark blonde, fell out and was replaced with short silver threads. Her business suit disappeared, replaced with what seemed to be leather armor covered in feathers. But the most drastic part of the transformation was the appearance of silver tattoos which covered the entirety of her body. On her head was the mark of the crescent moon. As she opened her eyes, her demeanor seemed to change from one of the reporter before… to what could be best described as a noble savage. She looked at the abomination in front of her and snorted.

"Chimera. You've lived in this world for far, far too long."

With that, she pounced. As she did so, her body shifted. Feathers grew on her body, and her hands and feet turned to taloned toes. Great wings emerged from her back, and her hair disapeared into her skull, replaced with a brown plumage. A nose turned into a beak, and human eyes replaced themselves with that of a noble hawk. In her new form she flew towards the beast and screeched an unholy cry.

The others just watched this with fascination. Natalie gawked at the sight of her normally flighty partner transformed into something… well, something that actually _flew_. Barri was both relieved and disappointed that the spotlight was no longer on her, but she simply drew more cards. Maria, meanwhile, ignored all of this in her focus on Davimon's wellbeing.

"Davimon, are you okay? Wake up! Don't just leave me like this!"

She began to cry once more, but stopped when she heard a chuckle. She looked up to see the golden knight laughing at something. In her newfound anger, she yelled at him. "Are you laughing at his suffering."

"No, I apologise my fair lady. It just seems, to use the lingo of that interesting type of creature we jocks called a "nerd", that you failed your listen check."

She paused to take in what she was hearing, and as she did so she heard Davimon's trademark snoring. She looked and down and indeed it seemed he was alright, if unconscious. She sighed at the absurdity of the situation. She looked up to thank the man, but he was already charging off to meet the monster in combat once more, seemingly to have lost no energy despite the length of the battle.

 **(End Theme)**

Lily, meanwhile, was scratching out the eyes of the creature with her new talons. It's cries of pain could be from around the world, before it decided to _do something_ about it, and knocked her away. To take her place, however, was Barri, who had just drawn what she needed. She played a spell card on her duel disk.

"I activate _**Faustian Bargain**_! With it's effect, I can place a taint counter on an Inquisitor monster I control in order to bring back an Inquisition or Inquisitor monster from my graveyard, albeit putting a taint counter on them as well. Come back, Eisenhorn!"

The familiar man wearing a green overcoat soon appeared. Both him and the red cardinals glowed purple. That wasn't all, however.

"I now play _**Inquisitorial Repentance**_! Once per turn, when an Inquisitor monster on my side of the field has a taint counter, I can remove the counter and lower it's level by one! Thus, I remove the counter on the Unexpected Inquisitors!"

With that, the glow faded on the kooky cardinals.

"Now, since I have two level 6 monsters on my side of the field, I can create the overlay network!"

A golden spiral formed onto the battlefield, and the two monsters were soon sucked into its gravity. It began to glow with even more power as Barri chanted.

" _Justice and good are corrupted by a lust for power! Watch as madness produces a survival of the fittest! Ascend to the Throne,_ _ **Grand Inquisitor Karamazov!**_ "

 **(Cue Dawn of War 2 OST -** _ **Angels of Death**_ **)**

A gigantic throne appeared in a flash of light, mounted on bipedal robotic legs. It was painted white, red and gold and covered in purity seals, the prayers of protection. A cyborg was manning a machine gun on one side of it, while on another sat a small friar, serving as scribe. In the middle, the man himself, an old crusader in the armor of his position. He pointed a sword in the beast's direction and shouted: " _Burn the Xenos! Kill it in the Emperor's Name!"_

 _ **Grand Inquisitor Karamazov**_

 _ **DARK/Warrior/Effect**_

 _ **RANK/6 ATK/2500 DEF/1800**_

 _ **XYZ MATERIALS: 2**_

"Karamazov's effect is a bit unique. By removing an xyz material, I can activate the effect of a spell card that involves taint counters a second time this turn! Now, Faustian Bargain activates once more, and thus Eisenhorn rises again to the field!"

The Grand Inquisitor shouted, and was surrounded by a purple aura as the Faustian Bargain worked it's magic once more. Eisenhorn returned from the Earth to the battlefront, covered in the same purple power. Suddenly, a pistol appeared behind Eisenhorn's head and he soon disappeared into particles.

"I activate the effect of the Inquisitor Cycle! I send Eisenhorn back to the deck and special summon from my hand _**Recruiter of the Inquisition**_!"

A refined noble entered the field, carrying documents and various utensils with him. He wore a suit of scarlet, complete with handkerchief, and a large red and green hat adorned his head.

 _ **Recruiter of the Inquisition**_

 _ **DARK/Spellcaster/Effect**_

 _ **LVL/5 ATK/1000 DEF/1000**_

"Recruiter's effect is also unique, in two respects. First, he is considered an Inquisitor monster as well as a Inquisition monster, and, once per duel, when he has no taint counters, he can special summon a level 2 or lower Inquisition monster onto the field from my deck, and make it the same level he is! I special summon _**Informant of the Inquisition**_!"

The nobleman clapped his hands twice and a new figure entered the field. He wore simple clothes and was an average man, if it weren't for the suspicious smile on his face.

 _ **Informant of the Inquisition**_

 _ **DARK/Fiend/Effect**_

 _ **LVL/2 ATK/0 DEF/0**_

 _ **Informant/Level 5 (2-5)**_

"I then overlay the two monsters!"

The same galactic spiral appeared, and both monsters jumped into its embrace. Barri chanted once more.

" _Mercy and love are trampled by a lust for power! Watch as a villain ascends the ranks! Revel in your decadence,_ _ **Grand Inquisitor Clyntahn!**_ "

Nearby, Mab overheard this chanting. When she called out the monster's name, his eyes narrowed and his teeth clenched in a growing rage. _Oh hell no._

A large, portly man appeared atop a large wooden chair. His vicar robes were stained with grease, and his beard and even overall appearance looked unkept. Yet, even as he chowed down on a leg of fried chicken, a predatory gleam appeared in his eyes.

 _ **Grand Inquisitor Clyntahn**_

 _ **DARK/Fiend/Effect**_

 _ **RANK/5 ATK/500 DEF/2300**_

 _ **XYZ MATERIALS: 2**_

 _Who the hell made THAT DEVIL A CARD?!_

"Clyntahn's effect activates! As long as he is on the field, any Inquisitorial or Inquisition spell or trap card which would normally not effect an Inquisition or Inquisitorial monster with taint counters now does so! And so I activate _**Armaments of the Inquisition!**_ "

A small, golden egg-shaped object fell into the hands of Karamazov. It was, by the grace of the Lord Almighty, in all his humour, a Holy Hand Grenade.

"Armaments of the Inquisition targets an Inquisitor or Inquisition monster without taint counters and raises their attack points by 1500 until the end of the turn! Now, Karamazov! _**Sound of the Choir's Wail!**_ "

The inquisitor handed the object to the cyborg, who pulled the cross-shaped pin and threw it at the beast. It exploded in a bright burst with the music of an angelic choir. The beast roared as the explosion broke through it's armor and burned its hide. Barri shouted to the golden warrior a few yards away.

 **(End Theme)**

"Knight! I've done everything I can! Can you finish the job?"

 **(Cue Megadimension Neptunia V-II OST -** _ **Will Be Venus**_ **)**

"Certainly!" He shouted back. A golden aura surrounded him as he prepared to spend a large amount of his remaining energy. He leapt in the air towards the exposed tissue and, raising his golden sword high (which began to glow almost as bright as the sun itself), slashed it at the beast's weak point. " _ **Daiklave!**_ "

His weapon then thinned down to more refined saber which he seemed slice with as if he were spinning the handle. " _ **Reaper Daiklave!**_ " Then it transformed into what could be best described as a giant golden meat cleaver. He held it around his neck, then shouted "This shall be the finishing blow! _**REAVER DAIKLAVE!**_ " With that, he did a horizontal slice which sliced the beast clean in half.

The still living top half crumpled in a heap, breathing it's last breath as corrupt data flowed out of it's veins where blood should have been. As it lay dying, Lily flew towards it, saying in a whisper: "There is only one outcome in a fight with a beast like this. It's memory shall not pass away." With that, she pulled out the surprisingly small data core (shaped like a heart) from it's chest and ate it whole.

 **(End Theme)**

Reactions to this were immediate.

"WHAT THE HELL, LILY!" Shouted Natalie, her normally quiet demeanor slipping at what her partner just did.

"Why did she DO THAT?" Yelled Maria, equally surprised.

"Perhaps I should explain." Said the golden knight as he moved towards the group, cleaning his blade of the blood along the way. "She has just undergone a process known as Exaltation. It is the process by which we Exalts are created. However, there is a problem in the process."

"What problem?"

"All Exalts suffer, to one degree or another, a sort of curse. This curse damns the Exalt so that, in their greatest time of need, their greatest virtue will become a most fatal flaw. This is what happened here."

Maria looked at him confused. "How do you know about this?"

"Because when ever I don this armor and use the power of the Exaltation, I risk having the curse affect my actions. More so than her's even at this point of time. The first time I discovered this," he dropped his head in disgrace, "I became incredibly foolhardy, and endangered the lives of those I was trying to protect. And the curse aside, the Exaltation itself affects the personality of the user. Do you truly think I talk like normally, in this day and age?"

Natalie lightly chuckled at the thought, then she admitted: "Well, maybe. It's just, first impressions and…"

The knight laughed back at her comment. "Well, to set the record straight, no I do not talk like this outside of the armor. Speaking of which," he said, as the armor faded to sweatpants and a blue sports shirt. His sword transformed into the card he first used, and his helmet disappeared, revealing his grizzled face. He sighed as he stretched his limbs, still not getting used to the transformation even after so many years.

"So that's what you look like normally," said Barri, as she walked towards the group. "Say, what happened to the man who gave the girl that card?"

The group looked in confusion as they realized that the man had vanished without any of them noticing. What they did see was Lily, still in her silver-tattoed form walking towards them. She had a sweet smile as she hugged Natalie suddenly.

 **(Cue Undertale OST-** _ **Temmie Village**_ **)**

"Oh, I'm so sorry Lee! I should have been a better friend and not put you in harm's way after all! How inconsiderate of me!"

Natalie, shocked at the sudden kindness, looked to the former golden knight. He simply mouthed to her "The curse." She nodded her head in understanding as she looked to her friend and said:

"So, Lily, the fight's over, you can transform back now…"

"Oh, but Lee, there could still be danger afoot! What if the guards came and assumed you were the enemy? Or what if that building fell on your head? Or what if there was an earthquake, and the ground split open, and you fell down-"

Natalie's face turned red and angry as she exasperatedly shouted: "LILY! TRANSFORM! NOW!"

"Oh fine, if you insist, my dear Lee!" With that, she transformed in a flash of light to her normal self. She still had the same smile until she realized what she had just done. Panicking, she whispered her words in horror and begun to hug Natalie in forgiveness.

"Oh no, no no no no no no no no no, I'm not your mother! And I don't swing that way! I'm sorry Natalie, I didn't mean all that! I didn't mean to _do_ all that! I just-"

"LILY! GET OFF! I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOU HUGGING ME!"

"Sorry, sorry, sorry, I apologize, it's just-"

"I know it's not your fault and _I_ apologize for yelling at you. You just need to make sure you control yourself in that form. You're like a mother hen, trying to herd me to safety!"

"Ahem" came a voice from the ground. All of the people there looked as Davimon stood up. He spoke in a calm, soothing voice in English.

 **(End Theme)**

"I believe some introductions are in order. My name is Davimon. This is my Tamer, Maria. She works at the hotel just over there." Maria nodded as she heard her name called. Davimon then repeated what he just said in Italian for Barri's benefit.

The former knight spoke up. "My name is Joseph Cain. I am a former U.S. Army man. I came here to relax after I retired from the military, but it seems that I just can't get enough excitement these days." He said the same thing in Italian right after.

Barri spoke in Italian next. "My name is Barri, real name Barbara, though if you call me that I will strangle you. I really hate it. In any case, I go to the University here in Rome and was in fact on my way there…" she paused, then hung her head. "... which means I just missed all of class."

Joseph translated for her benefit.

Lily spoke for her and Natalie, as Natalie did not know Italian. "My name is Lily, I am a reporter for the BBC and this here is Natalie, my camera woman." Natalie waved meekly.

"You're a reporter?" Joseph asked. "Does this mean that…"

"That we've recorded all of this? Yes. However, I don't intend to send the footage back to the studio as of yet. When we do so, I intend to censor all of the names used and distort all of your voices. Ah, the wonders of modern technology!"

"BARRI!"

Barri turned as she saw Baldur running towards her. She yelled happily, "BALDUR! Your safe!"

"And so are you… wait, is that a duel disk?"

 **(Cue Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire OST -** _ **Look! Little Kid**_ **)**

Her eyes widened, then she grinned sheepishly as she tried to hide it behind her back. "Um, what duel disk?"

His eyes narrowed. "So let me get this straight. You yell at me about you hate dueling and how people take it way too seriously, then you play it behind my back."

"Look, this is will require some explaining-"

"Well, explain away. I'm _all ears_."

The rest of the group, noticing the tension, slowly backed away. Barri gulped before answering. "You know about how I'm always going to the doctor so much?"

"And what does that have to do this?" He said, pointing at the duel disk.

"I getting to that. *Sigh*, look, I'm psychic."

He gave her an incredulous expression. "What."

"I'm telling the truth! When you and I were young I played Duel Monsters. However, whenever I did so, people got hurt. The authorities realized that what was hurting them was coming from _me_. So they did some tests, and they realized that I was able to make others feel pain where ever they got hit, no matter if what hit them was solid or just an image. When they realized this, they offered Mom and Dad scholarship money for me when I got older, as long as I promised to help serve as a test subject after college."

"And how come I don't remember all of this?"

She flinched, then admitted: "I might I have traumatized you, just a bit."

He raised an eyebrow. "Just a bit."

"Yeah."

"Sorry, but I'm going to need more proo-"

She played one of her Inquisition monsters, which slapped him in the face. He looked at it, his blood racing at the sight of it. "Dammit, Barri, I told you I hate seeing that line of monsters-" He stopped as he realized something. "That's why I hate them, isn't it?"

"It's also why I got out of my goth phase."

"Goth phase?" Asked Maria, "How old were you when this happened?"

"8 or 9."

 **(End Theme)**

Her casual answer stunned Maria, who had expected a bit older in terms of age. Joseph asked the question that was on everyone's minds: "Isn't that a bit young to be in a goth phase?"

"Eh, it just happened."

"Actually," said Baldur quickly, "wasn't it actually an emo phase?"

"Isn't that the same thing?"

Her response triggered a shiver in the spines of everyone else. "Was it something I said?"

Lily was the first to respond. "Don't get those two confused in front of someone who is actually goth. You only have so many limbs that can be torn off."

"O… kay…"

"In any case," said Maria, "who are you?"

"My name is Baldur. You probably know her real name is Barbara. As you can tell, our mother had a terrible sense for naming things. I'm her twin brother. Fraternal, obviously. I like dueling, but tried to hide from people because _someone_ hated it."

"Your words are not lost on me, Baldur."

"Good, I was hoping for that. Now, what happened to the giant thing that was destroying the city?"

They looked where it should have been, but nothing was there. Lily let out a sudden burp, causing everyone in the group to look at her worriedly. She grew frustrated seeing their expressions. "So I ate it's heart! You guys already know I wasn't in the best state of mind! Don't blame me for doing something while under the influence of… whatever!"

Baldur's jaw had hit the floor. "Uh..." Barri quickly cut in. "I'll explain it later. Let's just go home."

"Hold on!" Cried Lily "What about cell phone numbers? Can we exchange those?"

"Okay." said Joseph. "As long as you don't talk about this with anyone, at least not yet, I can do that."

"I can agree to those terms."

And thus the time honored tradition among youth, the exchanging of the cell phone numbers, began.

 _ **Somewhere out there/Some time later…**_

"Why did you stop me? I thought you wanted me to recall the creature, who I still don't have a name for!"

" _ **To answer your second question, it is what is known as a Digimon. However, due to the unusual method that it was summoned with, it's data became corrupted and thus it became essentially a glitch in the system."**_

"And my first?"

" _ **Because I thought it was funny seeing so many blood vessels appearing in a man's face."**_

Silence seemed to stretch on for an eternity, before the first voice spoke up again.

"You have no idea how much I despise you at this moment."

" _ **Considering how many people across so many dimensions hate me, I don't care."**_

%\%\%\%\%\%\%

And… scene.

Thus ends the first battle, and the introductions to the characters. Thus also begins my cuing of the music. Anyone who wants to know why I picked the songs I did, just ask.

Barri was revealed as a psychic duelist this chapter. I felt that if I'm going to have Duel Monsters in this story, I want them to be able to _do something_ , and thus I created Barri as the psychic duelist of the team. In regards towards the monsters she's using, they are an OC archetype I created, _the Inquisition_. They are based off the Inquisitors of the Warhammer 40k universe and the Safehold series, with a little Monty Python mixed in for fun. Whether one of the Inquisitors will do the slapping fish dance remains to be seen.

Also, for those wondering who Mab is, and where's from, your question was hopefully answered. I can only say so much without making it obvious :)

I don't know when I'll be uploading the chapter after this. I write these things in a binge, and I'm still deciding the next move. The problem is that I suffer from what is known as "Sanderson Syndrome." I can write Beginnings and Endings perfectly fine, it's the middle parts that conflux me. So hopefully, you'll be seeing more chapters of soon enough.

Thank you for your dedication,

Critian Caceorte


	5. Chapter 5: Secrets in the Shadows

_**Outside the City Limits/April 4th 2010/4:00 PM**_

He waited in the forests outside of Rome. He'd already been here once, why did the other man insist on meeting here? It was in the middle of nowhere, why…

 _...Because what he's going to say can't reach the ears of others. That's it._

He pondered this for a moment. It made sense, and honestly he should have thought of it the minute the man told him to come here. _A year in this world has made my instincts go soft. Just like everything else…_ His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a window cracking. He turned behind him to face the "other man" he had been thinking of.

"You're late."

"Nonsense, a wizard is never late."

"Forgive me, but I have a serious doubt that you're a wizard."

The other man just smiled. Mab took a closer look at his appearance. The man wore cerulean armor adorned with a purple cape. His skin was corpse gray, and his black hair was long and disheveled. He carried in one hand a tome that just seemed to permeate with energy, and in the other a crystal staff that seemed to vibrate in the wind. But what was most unusual about the man's appearance were the two blue flames which burned where his eyes should have been.

"Well, I am a sorcerer, but that is besides the point. I trust that you delivered the card?"

"Yes, I gave the card to her, though I still don't know what it _did_."

"That card contained something known as an Exaltation, a mystical object which transform the user into an Exalt."

"And what is an Exalt?"

"Now that, is an interesting question. To give a very… simplified answer, you know how the Catholics have communion? Where they take symbols representing the body and blood of Christ, respectively?"

"...yes..?"

"Now imagine if it wasn't a symbol, but the real thing, and doing so granted you super powers. Very _powerful_ super powers."

Mab gave a disgusted look. The other man quickly motioned his arms as to calm him. "It's not as disturbing as you think it is. You have to remember that the gods are bit more… abstract than we are. In any case, the card you gave that woman, the card that knight held, and the card," he took out a glowing purple card from a hidden compartment in his armor, "I wield as well; they came from the same place. In the year 3010 AD, one Queen Serenity will order the creation of a supernatural prison, an extremely massive one, known only as _The Deeper Well_. The construction will begin in the year 3025 AD, and the construction will actually be finished… in the year 500 _BC_."

Mab took a second to realize what the man had just said. His astonishment spoke for him. _What? But, that's…_

"The prison will be so large, it will not just stretch across space, but _time_ as well. It is simultaneously, as we speak, already finished and yet not even a thought in the future queen's mind. Confusing, I know, but that's how most grand things are."

"If it's a prison," Mab began slowly, "then what does it contain?"

"Well, it holds the occasional all-powerful villain and sometimes even a doomsday device or two. But what it contains the most of, what it was _really_ designed for, was containing these Exaltations. Tens of thousands of each kind, in fact. You've seen what one or two of those things can do. Imagine what _thousands_ can accomplish. That's why it was built."

"But how could there be thousands of them? Where did these cards begin appearing from in order to necessitate the creation of this prison?"

"Why, the prison itself, of course."

It took a few moments to process, but like most people, Mab was confused.

"...excuse me?"

"The reason the prison (the one in the future) was built was to contain the exaltations that were leaking out of the prison (the one that was in the past)."

"You've lost me."

"I've lost dozens of people on that explanation, it would have surprised me more if you had gotten it the first time. Setting that aside for now, I have a request to make."

"Anything to get away from that paradoxical garbage. What is it?"

"I want you to find out who is behind these… summonings. For some reason, whoever is doing them has managed to evade my sight, and that is quite difficult to do, honestly. I'm still trying to look for them, but my time here is running low."

"Running low?"

"I am what is known as a Sidereal Exalt, the Exalts of the Stars. It is our duty to make sure that fate and heaven run smoothly. If Solar Exalts like that knight are the rulers, the kings; and the Lunar Exalts like that reporter girl are the warrior nobles, the defenders of life; we are the Divine FBI."

Mab raised an eyebrow at this. "Do you have a J. Edgar Hoover?"

"Yes, like you wouldn't believe. The reason my time is running out is that all Sidereals are subject to… audits. Our actions are looked at, merits praised, offenses punished, it's a stressful time for all, and I need to create my legal defense soon. I should have done it yesterday in fact. So, yes, I am quite stressed for time. That's why I need you to help." With that, he turned away and created a portal with his book.

"WAIT! I still have questions-"

"Oh, of course. Here," he pulled a book from seemingly out of nowhere and handed it to Mab, "this should answer any remaining questions you have."

"And… well, I didn't get your name."

"Oh, silly me. My name is Sansion the Savant. I appreciate you giving me your time." And with that, he was off.

Mab watched him go, then flipped open the book. As he turned the pages, something fell out onto the ground. He picked it up, stared at it for a few seconds, then looked in the direction where Sansion had left. He smirked.

It was a glowing red card.

 _ **A Hidden Base, Rome/The Next Day/8:55 PM**_

The building was a warehouse, and quite huge. It's size was even more emphasized as hundreds of people crowded in with plenty of room to spare. They set up folded chairs, they sat on the various boxes that were in there, they sat wherever they could. They all waited to listen to what their leader had gathered them to hear.

Suddenly, a shadowy figure entered the room. That was probably the best description possible for him, because he was quite literally cloaked in shadows. No one could make out his face, for magical darkness obscured it. He raised his hand, and everyone went silent. There had been past _demonstrations_ of the consequences of disobeying his commands. Nodding his head, he began to speak.

"Good. This is how it should always be. I am quite glad that there was no need for a… _demonstration_ this time. It hurts to lose more useful men. I have called all of you here because it is finally time to engage in more _overt_ action."

The men looked at each other, some were wondering what he meant by overt, while others were simply glad to get some action.

"Those of you looking for a promotion as one of my lieutenants, this is your chance. Those of you who are already my lieutenants, this is your chance for glory. I have a "hit-list" you could say for the enemies who concern us most. Anyone of you who brings their dead body back to me _or_ brings back definitive proof of such death will be immediately rewarded. Handsomely."

"These are the targets: Joseph Cain, former U.S. army sergeant, currently here in our _blessed_ city on vacation, and a Dawn-Caste Solar Exalt. Engage him in _groups,_ preferably attacking at the same time. Any _group_ who brings his corpse back will have _each_ member be rewarded as if they individually brought him back. I'd rather have to pay the the same reward multiple times over then constantly lose men who try to attack him so foolishly."

"Next: Lily Burlington, reporter for the BBC, although sources tell me she and her partner would not be missed that much. Recently, she has obtained a Lunar Exaltation. Again, engage in groups. She is new, but what I've found is that those damnable Lunars adapt quite quickly to most situations. Do not underestimate her."

"Maria Costa, works as a hotel chef, is a… what do they call it in the west? A Digimon Tamer, I believe? Something like that. Her "partner" looks like a non-threat, but I assume you all have seen the footage of our latest attack. This "evolution" he can do is quite powerful, if a bit even easy to defeat. He could work on his eyesight and his maneuverability."

"Barbara Lombardi, a student at the Sapienza Università di Roma. Able to turn illusions into solid artifacts, though we are not sure how, or else I would be using that quite often." There was a chuckle in the crowd. "Yes, yes, that would be great. She should be easy as long as she is blindsided. Also, someone should be researching this game she plays so that we might understand the mechanics of it. It would be _enlightening_."

"For our noncombatants, we have Natalie Taylor, yes quite a common name I know. Associate of Miss Burlington, striking her down would have a positive effect for our efforts. As would the brother of Miss Lombardi, Baldur."

"I will be sending your orders to your officers, so that they cannot be lost or traced. I do not want the Italian government on our heels more than they already are. For now, you are dismissed."

They exited out quickly, through the holes and crevices they crawled out of. When he was sure that they were gone, he signaled with his first two fingers, and a figure came out of the shadows.

"Angau, do you really have to hide in the shadows like that? Weren't you the one who suggested that I read 'the Evil Overlord's List'? I'd hate to have my assassin be easily defined by tropes."

"Heh, so you did read that. I was hoping you would."

"Yes I did. It was quite useful. So, I have a mission for you to prove your worth. I need you to assassinate one of the members of that little party. I'd rather they not celebrate just yet."

"But aren't you worried that could motivate them further?"

"I did think of that, but I think a well-placed bullet could harm their effort more than benefit it."

"Okay then, I'll get on that."

With that he faded into the dusk. A voice entered his mind.

" _ **You know, I like that man."**_

"I can smell the "incoming betrayal" off of him a mile away."

" _ **And that's why I love him."**_

 _ **The Lombardi Twins' Apartment/The Day after, April 6th 2010/9:00 AM**_

"Are you _sure_ you can't bend spoons?"

"BALDUR! ENOUGH! I CANNOT! BEND! SPOONS! Now, I _need_ to GET TO CLASS!"

He grinned as she walked out the door. _Even after all these years, too easy._ His grin disappeared as he looked at his duel disk. _I can't imagine how that must feel. To have a fun thing… just turned into a weapon…_ He looked away, and packed up his stuff. _I need to clear my head of all of this… mystical, psychic crap, or it's just going to eat away at me._

 _ **Outside/9:15 AM**_

It was a pleasant day outside, but there weren't that many people outside. Presumably, no one wanted to be out when, not "if" they had decided, the next monster came. It was almost creepy, really. _Well, I got out to try and get rid of these thoughts, and here back again._ Thankfully, a distraction would soon arise.

Baldur saw a familiar face leaning by a lamp post. He called to him, a smile forming on his face: "Giacomo! You're still here?"

His friend, a smile always on _his_ face, walked over to meet Baldur. He wore jeans and a vanilla shirt, clad in an emerald suit coat, along with matching gloves. His hair was blonde except for his sideburns, which were dyed green to match the rest of the outfit. He answered back: "Hell yeah. You think I'm gonna caught that easily?"

"Considering how you were setting up betting pools on the college campus, yes. How'd you get out of it?"

"I watched a few spy movies and came up with a great idea: Cell Operations!"

"Isn't that for terrorist groups?" Asked Baldur, his face contorting in a frown.

"No, no, nothing like that! Look, I know the term has some negative connotations-"

"LOTS of negative connotations."

"Fine, LOTS of negative connotations, but it worked out alright!"

"And the evidence never traced back to you? I find that a bit hard to believe."

"Well, if we keep talking about it out here they're going to find out anyways. Come on inside, my apartment's up there."

Baldur went inside, but Giacomo stayed outside, calling out: "Go up there without me. I'll meet you back up there, there's a few chicks that this man needs to talk to." Snorting, Baldur went up as directed. When he was gone, Giacomo's smile faded as he pulled a green card out of his pocket. The card glowed as it seemed to speak to his mind.

" _So, can you feel them?"_

"Yeah, I already sensed them a mile back." He checked his phone for the time. "Yep, definitely enough time. If not, luck's always on my side."

 _ **The Back Alleys/9:17 AM**_

The men were sneaking closer to the apartment building. They wore your average work day clothes, but two facts made them stand out as to their true person: a) Your average person does not simply _walk_ through alleys and b)The men's countenances bore cruel looks, like the kind you see on a wolf hunting a rabbit. They stopped moving when their leader, a balding, though athletic, man, raised his hand. They saw Giacomo walking down towards them, a crueler smile than usual on his face. He called out to them.

"Well, it's kinda unusual to see businessmen in these parts. So, how can I help you guys today?"

"Get out of our way, and we'll be _most_ grateful." Said the Leader.

"Ouch. You know, I really hate it when people aren't being polite. I'm not talking about the "kindness" the politicians do, I'm talking actual _respect_. And so far, you guys aren't being that respectful."

One of the men shouted out, his leader cutting off his words too late: "You trying to intimidate us, punk?"

"I'll have you know my fashion sense clearly aligns with new modernist fashion, not punk. That's strike two, I'm afraid. As for what happens when you strike out…" a dark green aura seemed to envelop him, "well, who's to say there can't be a hell on earth?"

The men, with the exception of their leader, who had hesitated after sensing the youth's power, but joined in anyways. Giacomo just laughed as he pulled a knife from his pocket and threw it at one of the men. _Yeah, turns out heads have a tough time with knives._ He then kept throwing the knives, not exactly with perfect aim but still hitting critically anyways until only the leader remained. He looked around at his now dead compatriots, then snarled as he pulled a blue card out of his pocket.

"Dragon's might! Exalt!"

He transformed into a humanoid figure with fins for ears, his skin blue, and wearing only a martial arts _gi_. He ran towards Giacomo at extreme speeds…

…and he just moved out of the way of the man's charge. A dagger sticked out of the man's back where there had previously not been one. A smirk crossed Giacomo's face as he looked at his clock again.

"What do you know! Just enough time to get rid of the bodies, talk with the cute girls over there and get back to Baldur!"

 _ **Giacomo's Apartment/9:21 AM**_

He had reached Giacomo's Apartment, and was waiting for him to get back. _Man, are those girls he's talking to_ actually _interested in him? I know he's tall and lean but the dude looks like a leprechaun!_ He waited a few more moments before admitting: _He's got the luck of one too. All those lucky plays when he tried Duel Monsters that one time… makes me want to kick something just remembering it._

But eventually, Giacomo made his way up the stairs and met with Baldur. He mimed a sad frown.

"The girls reject you?"

Giacomo's frown replaced itself with his trademark grin. "Eh, they weren't that interesting anyways as it turns out. I think they were reporters..?"

Baldur frowned in thought. "BBC reporters? One of them really bubbly and the camera woman having this sense of unease about her?"

"Yeah, you know them?"

"They've gotten friendly with my sister."

"Gotten _friendly,_ eh-"

There have been faster slaps in the history of the world, but this one was up there. Baldur shouted at him: "DUDE! That's my _sister_!"

"She still looks good. Just because you've been doing the older brother thing doesn't mean you can deny it all you want."

Baldur calmed down at hearing that. "Yeah, but that doesn't mean I have to like it."

"I suppose not. Anyways, here, let me just unlock the door… there!"

The two of them walked in. Giacomo's pad… was a guy's room. Not much to really say about it, except the hideous green paint. "Really man, you _had_ to keep the green paintjob?" "Why not? Helps keep people on their toes." His bed bared a resemblance to a made bed, but only as a distant cousin. He had a whiteboard that was still covered with what looked to be betting odds. A small safe was hidden in one corner of the room. Atop a dresser, he had decks of playing cards and trading cards from various different games kept in neat little folders that had the card's worth written on the plastic sheath. On second thought, his room really wasn't a typical guy's room at all.

"Well, you've probably heard this a lot about your room, but I hate it."

"I consider that a source of pride."

"But, if you weren't caught, why have you been gone for so long."

"Believe it or not, it was some issues with my I.D."

"What?"

"I'm serious." He pulled a card out of his wallet. It was an I.D. with a photo of him and everything that you would expect. "Apparently there were some mistakes on my card that I needed to fix. I've been stressing about it, and it only recently got solved. That's why I've been gone."

"That's understandable. Hold on, what time is it?"

"Time for you to get a watch. Or a phone these days."

"Ha ha. I'm serious, though. What time is it?"

"It's only 9:25 AM."

"Ok, then I still have a few minutes until I have to walk home and get ready for classes. Speaking of which, don't you have classes to go to?"

"Actually, I've 'mysteriously' acquired the flu, so I sadly won't be going to classes today."

"And you wonder why there were mistakes on your I.D."

"I know, right?"

"Sigh, I'll be going, _you_ should be getting for classes now. I'm not going to have to suffer an arguement with my sister because she thinks you're a layabout."

He walked out and closed the door behind him. Giacomo sighed as he pulled out another I.D. card from his wallet. It read " _Makai I.D., Name: Giacomo Ferrari, Spiritual Status: Half-Demon, Class Rating: C,"_ and continued on from there. _The new king might be a bit stingy with his laws, but at least he's not like the old one. Sorry Baldur, but some things you just keep close to your chest._

%/%/%/%/%/%

Thus ends Chapter 5, and thus the Makai world makes it's, admittedly shallow, entrance.

I've been trying for a while to create a _YuYu_ demon character, but it was a bit difficult. Admittedly, I did draw some inspiration from Mat from _The Wheel of Time_ , but he will most certainly be unique in his own special ways. The choice of green being his favorite color was simultaneously a random quirk I decided on and a deliberate case of foreshadowing. As for his character sheet (yes, I make them for my characters, it helps pin down their powers and power levels), yes, he does in fact have a max Luck dice pool (from the merit _Lucky_ of course).

This is also the chapter I introduced a "higher-up" character, namely Sansion the Savant. Yes he is a reference to Undertale, no he is not in fact Sans, though I was tempted to do that. Really, _really_ tempted. But in the end, I decided that invoking all of the hate and vitriol of the Undertale fan (and hater) base was just too much. Thus, he is a passing reference only.

Yes, I know the concept of the Deeper Well is confusing. And it really is just a small thing in the main lore, but it's the reason why I actually began _writing_ this series. It helped justify what was admittedly at first a bit of an uneasy concept: Getting Exaltations into the YYGDM series (which I apologize if I get the acronym wrong, I often confuse the places of the G and the D). With the Deeper Well, I can explain _why_ there's "suddenly an upsurge of superhumans in the European Area" (admittedly, I could have just explained it as "because of the Rajita Invasion!" But I think that Kanius is already doing a fine job with that.)

Also, the big bad is slowly starting to reveal himself. Yes, his patron _is_ the Ebon Dragon, which effectively means we're all screwed unless the Dragon decides to have a bit more fun with _all_ sides (which he does do. Sort of like Tzeentch in Warhammer 40k, he can't actually accomplish much by himself because he's too busy _betraying_ himself and others). So, here's hoping.

As always, reviews are welcome and I'll make sure to answer them in the next chapter (or the next, I do tend to crank these out pretty fast).

Your Gracious Author,

Critian Caceorte


	6. Chapter 6: Wuxia's coming

_**The Streets/April 6th, 2010/10:05 AM**_

Lily and Natalie walked down the streets, looking for anymore stragglers they could find who witnessed the creature's attack. Sadly, instinct had prevailed and the people who were on the scene had immediately ran for safety. Lily plainly expressed her displeasure at how few people they could find.

"You'd think that they could catch a glimpse at it, even while running. Why don't people ever love to witness history in the making?"

"Generally because they aren't as insane as you are, Lily."

"What you call insanity, I call courage."

"Then it's a stupid kind of courage."

"Let's move away from that. So, what'd you think about that hot guy with the green hair? You know how he kept on looking at you all dreamy like…"

Natalie grew uncomfortable with the change in subject. She lowered her head and said:"He probably just pities me…"

"Ah, don't say that! Why would he pity you? You have a decent career, you look cute, especially with your hair and glasses-"

" _Lily_."

"What? I'm just saying you look great-"

"No, I'm not disagreeing with you about beauty, it's just… I think the _other_ person is bleeding over."

That got Lily to stop. Her countenance became one of worried, and she looked like a dog being taken out back. Natalie merely watched this before bursting out laughing. Lily, on the other hand, did not find this funny. She pulled Natalie's head close to her mouth as she whispered (albeit loudly):

"DO NOT JOKE ABOUT THAT! I've had nightmares about that happening and I do NOT want that to come true."

Natalie kept on giggling even as her brain thought along a different path. _You know, I don't think I've ever had a dream. I wonder what it's like._

 _ **Some time later (10:15 AM)...**_

Baldur was running to get to class. His normal "prep time" had taken longer than usual. _I can't believe I spilled all of that milk. Man, Barbara is going to kill me when she finds out our floor was almost ruined. I can just imagine it-_

"LOOK OUT!"

Baldur felt his collar grabbed as he was pulled back. He had been so distracted, he hadn't noticed how he almost ran into an oncoming car. When he found his footing again after the near-death experience, he looked to his rescuer. The man had long black hair running down his neck, with waxed mustachios on his top lip. Despite Baldur's stupidity, the man didn't seem too angry at him. Baldur immediately went to the thanksgiving.

"Thank you so much, I could have died! Thank you-"

"You don't need to thank me that much. I'm just glad that you're not hurt."

"But, you just saved my life! Is there anything I can do for you?"

The man's smile brightened. "Amazing, and here they said chivalry is dead. Although, there is something I need..."

"What is it?"

The man took off a large bag he had carried on his shoulder. He explained as unzipped the zipper. "I'm a martial arts instructor. I've just moved to Rome, and I'm still looking for students. If you want, I could teach you for free." Within the bag was a bamboo kendo sword.

Baldur was dumbstruck. "Um, isn't that _I'm_ supposed to repay _you_ , not the other way around?"

The man laughed. "Honestly, the training will help your spatial awareness. If there's one less person on the streets who I need to worry over, that will be fine with me. Here's my card. Lessons begin tomorrow at 4 o'clock. I take it that you were running so fast because you had someplace to be?"

Baldur took the card as he realized where he was supposed to be. "Thanks!" he called out to the man. He read the card:

 _Martial Arts to improve the Mind_

 _Sensei Merlin Arthrawes_

 _Can be found at the intersection of-_

"PAY ATTENTION!"

"Yes, sir!" He looked back at the road in front of him as his mind was filled with excitement and daydreams of the martial arts he saw in those Chinese movies long ago…

Merlin looked at the boy go before pulling a notepad and pen out of his coat. He checked something off a list while muttering, "That's the Lombardi Boy done. Now, about that camera-woman…"

 _ **The Hotel/12:30 PM**_

Maria was eating her lunch when a man came into the lobby. He wore casual clothes, had long brown hair tied in a ponytail and a beard. He carried underneath his arm what looked to be a stack of fliers. He walked up to the receptionist's desk. Maria could hear somewhat what they were talking about, despite the distance away.

"Hello! My brother… just opened… martial arts...up fliers?"

The receptionist nodded, then went onto explain things that Maria ignored as she pondered. _Did he say… martial arts?_ She walked over to the desk where the man and the receptionist were discussing matters quite happily. She tapped on the man's shoulder and asked him what was on her mind.

"Um, did you say martial arts?"

"Oh, yes! My brother just opened up a martial arts dojo downtown and he's looking for some students, so I'm passing out fliers. Would you be interested in one? First lesson is free!"

"Oh, um, sure." She grabbed the flier he handed her, then looked at the owner's name. "Merlin? As in the wizard?"

"Our late father, God bless his soul, was Welsh, and so gave my brother and my sister Welsh names. Lucky for me, my mom decided to go in a different direction and named me Ahbraim. Kind of nice, don't you think?"

"Oh, yes. So, does your brother do work with beginners?"

"Yep. He does also does work at some pretty high levels too. We all do, but our brother's the one who really took to it. Also, the first lesson is tomorrow at 4 pm."

"Okay, I should have gotten out of work by then. I'll make sure to check it out."

"Thank you. My brother's really excited to teach martial arts to others. He has quite a few fond memories of his training with his sensei. I think it really affected his life for the better."

"Was your brother in some trouble before?"

"No, he just suffered some depression when Dad died. We all did, but, being the oldest, it hit him the hardest. I think he turned to martial arts to cope, and well, cope he did. He's actually quite cheerful nowadays, though he still has his dark moments. It's one of the reasons we moved here, because the people are so… lively, and friendly, it really adds to the atmosphere."

"Well, not all of us are like that. And with the recent attacks…"

"Yeah I heard about those. Actually…" He looked around the place. "Wasn't there some damage to the place?"

"We're a major hotel." Said the Receptionist. "If we didn't get everything repaired like we did, we would be facing some terrible profit losses. Plus, there were some government workers who helped as well, so it only took a couple of days. This is actually the first day we're open after the attack."

"Oh, good for you. Well, I should probably be going, I have some places to be. I told my manager I would take the night shift today so that I could pass out fliers, so I better get on that so I don't have such a large stack by tonight." With that, he walked out.

Maria watched him walk out, then looked at the flier. "I didn't know you were interested in martial arts, Maria," the receptionist said.

"After the other day, I decided I needed to learn to protect myself. That way, I'm not so caught off guard. Well, I should probably finish my lunch…"

 _ **The Streets outside the Hotel/4:35 PM**_

Lily and Natalie walked into the hotel. They noticed some fliers by the receptionist's desk. Lily grabbed one. "Martial Arts for the Mind… Hey, Natalie, want to take a look into it?"

"What? But aren't we supposed to be investigation the incursions?"

"Yeah, but our witness pool is drying up. Plus, we already have footage of the creature, right? So we don't really have to worry until the next incursion!"

"Um, about the tape…"

"...You didn't lose it, did you?"

"No, no! I have it, it's just-"

"Oh, you girls interested in Martial Arts?"

The two women looked to see a tall woman with long black hair in a ponytail walking over to them. She was quite pretty, and was pretty muscular for a woman her size. She wore a black business suit, with a tie and everything. She smiled at them, and Natalie was the first to respond.

"Oh! Yes, yes!" She said quite quickly. Lily narrowed her eyes at the unprompted interest. _Is she hiding something about the footage from me?_

"Really? Not many women seem to be interested in martial arts."

"Well, it's just, some bad things have been happening around here lately and I was a bit worried, so I want to learn to be able to defend myself."

The woman nodded in sympathy. "Makes sense, I've heard there have been strange things going on. I and my siblings only just moved here, so I've only heard rumors."

"Rumors of what, exactly?" Asked Lily, her interest peaking.

"Large monsters from hell. It seems a bit outlandish to me, but I can't deny the damage from across the street. Though, this hotel seems quite alright to me."

"Excuse me if I'm interrupting," said the receptionist (a different one from last time), "but I think I can answer that question. The past few days all of the staff have been working on repairs, I think they'll have the last few parts done tomorrow. They were helped by some government workers and one of the guests, who said he had some experience in construction."

"Who was the guest, if I might ask?"

"One 'Joseph Cain', I believe."

"I know Joseph!" Exclaimed Natalie. "He was there when the attack happened!"

"Oh yes, he was, wasn't he?" Said Lily, her memory of the day returning. "He's the American, right?"

"Yes, a retired member of their military, I believe. I wonder where he is now…"

"Excuse me, but I have to be going." Said the Woman. "I have the night shift tonight, so I need to eat dinner and get ready for work."

"Hold on, what did you say your name was?"

"Oh, I apologize. How rude of me. My name is Nimue, my brother Merlin is the new owner of the dojo listed in the fliers. And now, I really should take my leave."

The moment she walked out of the building, Lily gave a angry look at Natalie. "Footage. Explain. NOW."

Natalie gulped, then led Lily to their room.

 _ **The Reporter's Apartment/4:45 PM**_

Natalie got out the footage she recorded on the cameras. The footage played out as normal, until they got to the part where they recorded the monster. Where there should have been a giant beast, there was instead static and darkness.

"What… the… hell..?"

"This is what I'm talking about, Lily. The footage has been _tampered_ with. Whenever the footage should show the creature, there's just static. Everything we've been looking forward to… it's been lost."

Lily turned pale as this information was processed in her mind. "...Lost? It's… gone? How… why…" she sank down to her knees, put her head in her hands and began to cry. Natalie looked at her sympathy. This was Lily's big chance, as well as her's. To just have it all gone-

"Wait. Did you hear that?"

Lily looked up at her. "Hear what?"

Natalie rewinded the tape a few seconds back, then played it again. It still showed static, but in the midst of it, they heard something.

" _ **Heheheheheh…"**_

Lily stood, attentive. "Play it again. Now!"

Natalie did so, and they heard the same laugh again. She looked at Lily and practically could see the gears turning in our head.

"No one was chuckling at the fight, were they?"

"...Nooooooooo..?"

"And no one that we know has a voice like that, correct?"

"Yeah…"

"And you can hear the echo and emphasis in his voice, right? Like he's in a cave or some other place with terrible acoustics... but we _filmed_ that outside, Correct?"

"Yes."

"And you never took the footage _out_ of the camera, not even today, right?"

"Yes!"

"Natalie?"

"...Yeah?"

"We tried to record footage of a creature that many who saw it regarded as a 'walking visual glitch'. That creature was fighting a knight in _shining,_ _**gold**_ _,_ _ **MAGICAL ARMOR,**_ along with a woman who could cause pain using a _children's card game_ and a mysterious man with a katana _**AND!**_ And! A woman covered in silver tattoos who could turn into a _**werebird!**_ "

"And a… guy… with hands the size of most boulders."

"That as well! Is it too hard to think with all that we've seen that a _magical_ influence isn't possible in this situation?"

"No, I guess it's not. Then, what 'magical thing' could do this?"

"The same thing that could bring that abomination into the world! What else! This isn't a _government_ cover-up! This is 'the masquerade', I think that's what geeks call it, a _magically-induced_ cover-up. That's why there have only BEEN 'rumors' instead of actual _footage_ in this day and age! Because it's all been _tampered_ with, due to the same thing that's summoning all this crap!"

The two of them thought for a moment, before Natalie spoke up.

"Lily, you still have the card, right?"

Lily looked at her in sudden fear. "Oh no, not that!"

" _Yes_ that! We already know that the power within the cards have a personality of their own! Maybe the one within _your_ card would know what's up!"

"Natalie, the last time I used that card I alternated between 'over-doting mom' and 'clingy girlfriend'. Are you really sure you want to do this?"

Natalie sighed. "We're getting desperate. At this point, we need all the information we can get. Aren't _you_ the one who was so enthusiastic to do this investigation?"

It was now Lily's turn to sigh. "Yes, yes I was. Fine then. I will do it, on ONE condition."

"What?"

"We ask the golden knight first."

"You mean Mr. Cain?"

"No, I mean the personality in _his_ card. Before I want to subject myself to anything, I want to talk with him first. That way we don't have a repeat of last time."

"Okay, we can do that. Did we ever get his room number?"

"No, which means we'll have to go back to the lobby and ask the receptionist. Come on, let's get this over with…"

%\%\%\%\%

A shorter chapter than usual, and one without sound. I've decided I'm only going to do the "cue music" thing in combat and other related scenarios. That way, I'm not stressing about how my playlist is filled with more 80's music than many people would like.

Natalie is starting to grow a bit more of a backbone, which is quite good considering her "condition". If people haven't only figured out what it is, you need to play more Warhammer 40k. Or something to that effect.

C'mon people, there are only so many hints I can give!

Also, Merlin is going back to the two things he does best: being a great impersonator/disguise artist, being an amazing spymaster and giving radio to the Romans (actually, that's three things)! Of course, by radio I mean something else. Anyone who has watched _Yu Yu Hakusho_ or played Exalted knows what happens when you mix either of the two with martial arts :P *cue evil laughter*.

Also, I can't wait to see the golden knight in a professional interview. And I'm the guy writing it!

As always, reviews are welcome, and if you pm me about something I'll try and answer.

Best of Wishes,

Critian Caceorte


	7. Chapter 7: Disco Inferno

_**A/N**_ : Shout out to the original author for taking the time to read my story. I'm glad you're liking it so far, man, and I hope you enjoy the chapters to come. I actually came up with the "Inquisition" Archetype before I began writing this, but I finalized when I put it into the story. Like I believe I said before, it combines the Inquisition from Warhammer 40k with the one from the Safehold series, with just a little Monty Python thrown in to spicen up the mix :)

And no, "subtle" is not the word I would use to describe Natalie's "nature". I'm actually trying as hard as I can to get it across to the readers without just blatantly saying it in the story (because there's no way they would actually have information on it.)

Yeah, I'm not going to really do the "calling your attacks" thing that much, because no matter where you do it in (with the possible exception of some animes) it just sounds dumb.

Finally, yes Maria is a Tamer, which does mean what you think it means. I'll get to that form eventually, near the end of the story.

Continue reading, man. We're chugging our way through the "false peace".

%\%\%\%\%\%\%

 _ **Maria's Apartment/April 6th, 2010/6:00 PM**_

Davimon paced around the small space. He was thinking a lot lately, on similarities he had noticed between the real world and the Digital world, and on the encounter they had with the monster. The appearance of the creature itself and how it was possibly related to the Digital world had kept him up some nights in thought. Maria had noticed this when she got home, and she asked him what was up.

"I'm thinking about the monster, and how it could be related to the Digital World. But it looked… strange. We all saw that, right? How weird it looked… You know how I was sent here?"

"Yes, you told me, it was to find a Tamer for you, which you realized was me, eventually."

"Yes. I came here due to a rare-portal making device that had been found in Witchenly. It's quite hard to find something of that power, so I still wonder why Wisemon and Dark Magician decided to use it with me. Besides that power, it is incredibly difficult to find or create a portal without the help of the Sovereigns. Which is how I think that creature was created."

"Huh?"

"I just told you how someone would _normally_ enter this world, right? Well, what if someone is trying to _force_ Digimon out of the Digital World? I've read about how sometimes in human history they did sacrifices to summon demons to the earth-"

"Woah, woah, Davimon! How did you come up with this kind of stuff?"

"What, you think I didn't do good research?"

"No, I'm just surprised at how… methodical you've been about this the entire time. I couldn't have come to a conclusion like that in such a short amount of time."

"Well, I was born in Witchenly. It's a place practically _dedicated_ to knowledge and education. So, I do have a tendency towards learning things. To continue where I left off, I'm beginning to think these summonings are due to a botched summoning. Like, the people doing this obviously are getting _something,_ but not whatever they want. Maria, I thi-"

Suddenly, clouds of darkness filled the room, somehow choking Maria and Davimon. Both passed out, and a voice could be heard in the distance…

" _ **Astute observations, young one. However, I can't have people finding out my servant's plans so soon. So rest your weary minds, and forget about these problems…"**_

With that, the clouds disappeared.

 _ **An Hour Later…**_

The two woke up, dazed at having been knocked out. Maria was the first to speak up.

"What happened?"

"I don't know… I think we were discussing something… Oh yes, the similarities between this world and the Digital World!"

"Oh yeah, that. But why did we pass out-"

"HEY! GET OUT OF THERE!"

The two looked to see a firefighter smashing through the door. He called out to them. "THE BUILDING IS ON FIRE! I NEED THE TWO OF YOU TO GET OUT OF THERE IMMEDIATELY!"

They looked at each other for no more than a millisecond before getting out of the room. When they had gotten out, there was indeed smoke crawling along the ceiling. They hurried down the emergency stairs along with other people in a rush to avoid the toxins in the air. When they got down to the bottom, the Fire Chief explained the situation to them.

"Folks, we aren't sure what caused the fire. We are looking into that as we speak, but we do know that the fire started on one of the lower floors and made it's way up. Anybody living on floors 2-5, I need you to give a report to one of the police officers. Anybody else, you are free to go, but I'm afraid you are going to have to find other arrangements for the night. The owner of the Complex apologizes for such a drastic turn of events, but I'm afraid that this often happens in life."

Maria and Davimon looked at each other, the shock evident on their faces. Their new home had been destroyed within a matter of days. Clearly, things were not going to be going their way in the near future.

 _ **Maria's Apartment/7:35 PM**_

"Chief, there's something I want you to see."

The Fire Chief looked in his subordinate's direction. The man was pointing to throughout Maria's room.

"This is really odd. I know that this room was on one of the higher floors, but it's completely spotless despite the fire. There's not even stains from the smoke, or even any damage whatsoever."

"Hmph, that's interesting, but I've seen cases like this before. Looks like whoever owns this room won't have to worry about their stuff all being gone. I'd say, looking at the conditions of the situation, that they were pretty lucky."

 _ **Merlin's Dojo/8:05 PM**_

"...Authorities on the scene report that the fire has been put out. Among the damage present, there was what the Fire Chief called a 'small miracle'. One of the rooms in the upper floors mysteriously survived without any damage whatsoever. I'm sure whoever owns that room is a happy man."

 _No, a happy woman in this case,_ thought Merlin as he listened to the report. _Apartments don't just 'mysteriously survive' in such a large fire. Thankfully,_ he looked at the card in his hand, still glowing red while a smile appeared on his face, _fate seems to be looking out for her._

 _ **The Hotel/An Hour Earlier…**_

"Mr. Cain! May we speak to you Mr. Cain?"

He opened his door to see the two reporters standing outside. The confusion on his face was evident.

"Please don't tell me you're trying to interview-"

Natalie butted in. "Mr. Cain, we have something to show you." With that, they charged into his room without his permission. He made his displeasure evident.

"You know, it's not legal to just charge into someone's room, no matter how public it is-"

"Oh, will you just SHUT UP and watch what we're trying to SHOW you?"

"Lily, that wasn't kind-"

"I'm too anxious and excited to care. Mr. Cain, watch."

Being one who knows when to follow orders, Joseph did so. What he saw confused him.

"This is footage of the battle, right? What's up with all the static?"

"We're taking a look into that. Now, try and listen closely to this part."

Joseph did so, and heard the ominous laugh the girls had heard earlier. He closed his eyes wondering what this meant, before looking at Lily.

"The voice is infused with magic. I, or at least Sol, recognize it. So, what does that mean to you?"

Natalie spoke for Lily. "We need whatever information the Knight has on this voice. We believe that it's behind the incursion, and we-"

"It's probably behind it, but Sol won't help."

"Why not?"

He looked at them frustrated. "The power within the cards doesn't create a new personality, it simple enforces traits onto the person's mind while they use it. Sol is _me_ , though I am not Sol, and the 'personality' in _your_ card is merely you with a few quirks installed. That's it. The cards don't magically possess information we don't have, at least as far as I've seen. Maybe it's different for you, but the only 'new' information I have while Sol is how to use his powers. That's it."

Lily looked crestfallen, until Joseph added: "There is still some hope to you finding the info."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"What is it?"

"Just ask the nice gentleman behind you."

They turned around, astonished to see someone behind them. He wore a leather duster and, strange for the time, a tricorne hat. He had a brown beard, and his eyes blazed red. He smiled as he saw their expressions.

"So, you saw me, huh Mr. Cain?"

"I was originally going to attack you, but I recognize your face. You were the man with the katana back at the fight with the monster."

"Indeed I was, although I've since switched" he flourished his duster to reveal two glowing pistols, "to the two of these bad boys, if you'll pardon the expression. My name, at least in this state, is Dialydd Mab, the Avenging Son (the family kind, not the galactic one you are familiar with) and a Sidereal Exalt. A Chosen of Mars, to be exact." The symbol of Mars flashed on his forehead.

"Hmm. So that's why you had the cards-"

"Actually the cards I had, the one the lady now possesses and the one I call my own, were given to me by a very… eccentric man."

"Did he have fire for eyes and carried a crystal staff?"

"The same. You knew him?"

"We met, a few days after I obtained the power I now wield. It seems, according to him, that it was his job to make sure that I don't suddenly conquer nations. I assume you're the replacement?"

"The substitute. Apparently he is due for some kind of… no, not jury duty, something else… some kind of court thing that he had to attend. And so, he gave the two cards to me, the one to keep and the other to go to it's rightful owner."

"So, why are you here?"

"To offer my assistance for any information gathering you need, although I have yet to find anything. Whoever is doing this cover-up is quite skillful at it. Additionally," he turned to Lily and Natalie, "to offer some training in the martial arts, which I believe you two were interested in earlier."

"Wait," said Lily, "YOU'RE MERLIN?"

"Yes, that is my 'secret identity' if you will. I wish to train you too along with two others in the way of either judo or kendo, so that you will at least have defensive techniques against others. If you prove really adept at it… we can move onto to more, ah, 'secretive stuff'."

Natalie tilted her head, then her eyes widened. "Wait a minute, you can teach us MAGIC?"

"Not magic, merely more powerful martial arts. I think, against foes like these, we might just need it."

Joseph looked at him sharply. "'Foes like these'? I thought you didn't have any information."

"About our true enemy, yes. Although, while out doing some surveillance I encountered a fight between another youth with an Exaltation against several men, one of whom possessed another 'Exaltation'. I believe the men were trying to kill the youth in order to prevent him from learning about what they are doing."

"A youth? What did he look like?"

"Well, his sideburns were dyed green-"

Lily interrupted: "Wait! The kid you're talking about was the one who _hit_ on us?"

"I believe so, though I left after he began talking with the two of you. I was more interested to examine what had happened in the fight. Thankfully, I brought a camera with me-"

"Won't work."

"-which unfortunately was _mysteriously_ edited by _someone_ afterwards. So I cannot show it to the two of you, but needless to say I was quite annoyed when I found out."

"So you understand our problem, then."

"Indeed I do, though I might just have a lead on whatever did this."

"Oh?"

He pulled out a book from somewhere on his person. It was the same book that Sansion had given him, and he opened it to a section that he had marked with a bookmark. "There." He pointed to a section labeled "The Enemies of Creation." "We have two possibilites. We either have an issue involving the 'Fair Folk'," he turned to that page in the book, "or either the Deathlords or Demons," he then turned to those sections of the book respectively.

"...And what does that _mean_ , exactly?"

"Well, we can discount the Deathlords, since in case you couldn't tell by the 'Death' part of their name, don't like living things, so they wouldn't exactly use summon a living thing to do stuff for them. Also, they're kind of trapped in their world's version of the Underworld, so they can't escape to here.

"That narrows it down to two choices, the Fair Folk and Demons. Both, unfortunately, are equally likely in this case. While Demons are known for being the infernal pact-makers that they are, the Fair Folk could just come in anytime that there is a distortion in the world's dimensional make-up. Which, unfortunately, did happen a year ago."

"Yep," said Joseph, "the 'Dawn of Chaos' event. It wasn't what told humanity that we weren't alone in the universe, but it did wake us the hell up to what would happen if we didn't advance technologically at break-neck speed. I think they're actually creating non-magnetic hoverboards now in Japan, and I believe they hope to expand that to fast and cheap space travel. I know some servicemen who witnessed all that happened on location. It was bad. Really bad."

"Then it's a good thing," said Lily, "that we have the Sailor Senshi and all of those other guys, right? Actually, has anyone thought of contacting them?"

"First of all," said Mab, "they live across the world from us. They are also going to have their own problems very soon, I'm afraid."

"How do you know that."

"One benefit of my Exaltation: Very Limited Prescience. I can't tell _what_ is going to happen, I just know they aren't going to be able to help us because something is going to happen there soon. It's something I just… know. I apologize if that doesn't make any sense."

"It doesn't, but that's okay. So, we've narrowed it down to two options. I think that's good enougth for now. I'm just worried that we'll only find out which it is when it's too late."

 _ **An Unknown Location/Later That Evening…**_

" _ **Well, the Tamer and the Digimon have been dealt with."**_

"You still haven't told me what a Digimon _is_ yet."

" _ **I haven't? Very well then… you know the Fair Folk, correct?"**_

"Alien beings who are creatures of the Wyld, unable to handle being outside it without taking human souls."

" _ **Correct. One of the major traits the Fair Folk, or the**_ **Raksha** _ **, as I believe they call themselves, have is that in order to stave off their hunger for souls they take on 'roles' much like you would take on a role in a theatrical production. This helps with the hunger problems, but it also messes with their personality, since they really don't**_ **have** _ **what we recognize as a conscience without taking on one of these roles, and when they do have one it does sometimes fail, exposing them as being entirely inhuman. Much like me, though I hide it better."**_

"And you're saying that these 'Digimon' are the same way."

" _ **Yes and no. They do have certain 'roles' that each species plays, but they still have their own unique personalities, though it isn't hard to see the special quirks in their thinking. For example, there are several digimon who look like dragons, and act like them too! Now, they are still individuals, but it's very rare that they have a name beyond that of their species."**_

"How do you know all of this?"

" _ **By conferring with the version of myself that lives there."**_

"What?!"

" _ **Haven't you heard of a thing called 'Multiverse Theory'? I have versions of myself across dimensions, though we all act slightly different. In one universe, I'm actually split into two beings, one who represents my tendency towards deception, and the other to my status as a dragon and my powers of darkness. In any case, yes, there is a version of me who lives in the Digital World."**_

"Wait, how can I trust what you are saying?"

The dragon laughed. " _ **Wait, you only just**_ **NOW** _ **thought of this? C'mon, I thought you were smarter than that. I could have been lying to you this entire time, and apparently you wouldn't even know it. I'm a bit disappointed, actually."**_

"*Sigh*, why, why, why is this happening to me…"

%\%\%\%\%\%\%

" _How could this happen to me..?"_

Yes, our main villain is having to go through all of the comedy associated with the Dragon. I didn't want just a heartless backstabber for a patron, I wanted to give him a… "cheery side", if you will. I know, I know, he's biologically supposed to be either as one or four-dimensional as possible, but even I have my limits in writing. Besides, you can't expect me to just give the heroes all of the funny moments, right?

The heroes are beginning to gather once more, and figure things out. I actually don't know why I decided to give Davimon that "academic" quirk, I just think it fits to have two quite intelligent people on the team, despite the fact that one looks like a kindergartner. And yes, Merlin, "fate" is on her side *wink wink nudge nudge the whole shebang.*

Next chapter, I'm hoping to begin our first lessons with Sensei Merlin! Anyone one who has read _Words of Radiance_ from the The Stormlight Archive, do you remember the scene with Wit driving the carriage? It's going to be a bit like that ("YOU!" "Me!" (: )

As always, reviews are welcome and I will always try and reply back to them, either in the next chapter or by PM.

Best of Wishes,

Critian Caceorte


	8. Chapter 8: Deus ex Machina and metal

_**A/N Notes:**_ I've read all your reviews. And yes, Giacomo is a cool name. As for Mr. Kanius, yes the Deeper Well is an interesting, if confusing idea. I'm sorry if I took liberties with your future plot, but I needed an explanation. As for the cards, Sansion already explained it: They are leaking out of the already existing prison. Hence why the prison will be built in the first place.

 _ **The Hotel/The Next Morning, April 7th, 2010/7:30 AM**_

Maria woke up, her hair covering her eyes. She stared absently as Davimon got up and yawned. He rubbed his eyes, before heading off to the kitchen. The two of them were lucky to have gotten this room for free while the apartment complex was being refurbished. She got up and walked to where Davimon was, and began to toast some bread. Davimon, meanwhile, looked at yesterday's newspaper. He noticed that there was still no real news related to the incursion, despite the amount of time elapsed.

"Hey Maria?"

"Yeah?"

"Could you bring today's newspaper up here from the lobby? I'm trying to find as much information as possible."

"Sure, let me just finish this."

After breakfast, she went down and picked up a newspaper for him. He thanked her as she left for work, then began reading. After a few minutes, he was disappointed.

"Sigh, why is it that the papers aren't talking about this stuff?"

"Because their information is being tainted."

He looked up in shock as four figures stood in the doorway where they weren't before.

"As you can tell," said Mab. "It's quite frustrating."

 _ **A few minutes later…**_

"So that's why there's nothing in the news."

"Indeed, their evidence disappears, and I'm worried that it won't just be their evidence which is corrupted."

"What do you mean?" Said Natalie.

"If the enemy can manipulate camera footage through the use of magic, what's to say that minds aren't possible as well?"

"That," said Joseph, "is something we need to plan for. I should have thought of that earlier. You guys know how the hotel was miraculously fixed in a matter of days, despite the damage? I volunteered to help with that, but as I worked I noticed that some of the damage seemed to miraculously fix itself. It wasn't obvious, it's just that some parts were fixed by the end of the day despite the fact that _no one worked on them_. I discounted it at the time, but now that you suggest that, I'm wondering if there was something else fixing everything…"

 _ **Somewhere else…**_

" _ **Sheesh, they're really catching on. Time to work my magic once more…"**_

 _ **At the Room…**_

Suddenly, clouds of darkness and malicious laughter filled the room. Davimon and the others began to choke and fell unconscious… except for Mab. He smiled as the laughter suddenly stopped, and he could feel a dark prescence looking at him.

"Surprised, Monster?"

" _ **Why aren't you unconscious?"**_

"It's hard to knock out something that doesn't need to breath. And if you still think you can alter my memories, I think the College of the Mask would want to have a talk with you."

" _ **Hmph. Fine. I guess I can't hide our activities forever. You win this round,**_ **Gadget!"**

The darkness disappeared, and Merlin's smile faded as he pondered this. "I don't know what's worse. That the enemy potentially knows my true nature, or that they've actually seen Inspector Gadget."

The others began to wake up groggily, with moans and groans. Natalie was the first to speak.

"What were those dark clouds?"

"What dark clouds?" Asked Lily.

"What do you mean, 'what dark clouds?' They were everywhere and we all choked on the fumes."

"Um, Natalie, what are you talking about?"

"Ms. Burlington," Mab began, "with the exception of myself, everyone in this room fell unconscious due to magically-created fumes. It seems, that with the exception of Ms. Taylor over here, that all of your memories of the incident and what we had previously been discussing have been wiped, thus validating my theory, I'm afraid. Our enemy has control over our minds and our memories, and now that it knows it can't control _all_ of us, it will likely go for more overt measures. Speaking of which, Ms. Taylor, how is it that you were not similarly affected?"

Natalie thought for a minute, then shook her head. "I… don't know. I've always had this… thing with me. People near me are scared for no apparent reason, and I somehow hurt Davimon and Barri when they were near me. What is wrong with me?"

Suddenly, Mab's book glowed and an envelope popped out. It was titled:

 _To: Dialydd Mab, Servant of the Stars, Chosen of Mars and someone whose titles are easy to rhyme_

 _From: A Little Deus Ex Machina_

He opened the envelope to find a letter with a simple message inside:

 _Look up a game called "Warhammer 40k"._

 _Sincerely,_

 _The Savant_

 _P.S. Other messages from me will far more limited in the future._

"'Look up a game called Warhammer 40k…' does that seem familiar to anybody?"

Lily looked it up on her phone. "Well, Wikipedia says that it's a discontinued tabletop war game, that ended production in the early 90's. Why would whoever sent that letter want us to look this up?"

"Can I see that article for a second?"

She nodded and handed him the phone. He took a look at it, before starting up a new search. "I'm going to look up any wiki's for the game. Considering how prominent the internet is, I have no doubt that there is one… and here it is. Now, to look up the various units in the game and see if there is a correlation, that's probably what Sansion wants us to find…"

 _ **One Hour Later…**_

"I… think I found it…"

"Well, what is it?"

Mab, for the first time that Lily had ever seen, looked bashful. He scratched his head as he seemed to look for the words to say. Natalie was beginning to get annoyed.

"Looky, you don't have to give me the politically correct version, just tell me."

"Apparently you don't have a soul."

Natalie and the others looked at him in astonishment. "What?!"

"You… are a Blank, someone, 1 in a billion, born without a soul. Because of this lack of a soul, you are immune to psionic effects and in fact cause pain to psychics because while their power is focused through their mind, their power comes from their soul. That's also why people find your presence disturbing, because although their souls aren't powerful enough to produce psionic effects, they are still affected by your lack of a presence. That might also explain how you were unaffected by that creature's power, because his power is most likely based on the soul."

Natalie was struck dumb, but Lily interjected: "Hold on, that can't be right! If not having a soul causes this condition, then inanimate objects would just kill us with their presence!"

"No, because they were not designed to have a soul in the first place. The problem isn't that there isn't a soul, the problem is the empty space, waiting to be filled. The body instinctively tries to fill itself by slowly consuming other's souls, which is why the psychic's are in pain in her presence because their power comes from having extra-large souls, therefore they have more to lose."

It was Natalie's turn to shout. "Then how come Lily isn't affected by my presence?" Upon hearing this, Lily's face turned a shade of pink. Natalie noticed this change in expression. "Lily?"

"Well, I have been affected by your presence. I… just hide it well, and after a while… I got used to it."

"Lily…"

"Natalie." Said Mab, "There is still some debate in the universe on whether or not the Blanks do not have a soul. There is good news in that. There is also bad news in the fact that a sufficiently powerful psychic could still overpower the 'null' effect a Blank produces. So, you can't rely on it all the time."

Natalie nodded absently, then quietly said: "I need to think about this. Alone."

"Use all the time you need."

Natalie walked away slowly, Lily supporting her along the way. Joseph nodded in her direction, a sympathetic look on his eyes, before turning towards Mab and Davimon.

Before noticing something was off. Davimon's eyes had glazed over, and he slowly walked towards his notepad. Picking up a pen, he began to write. Joseph called to Mab.

"Mab! Something's up with Davimon."

"Shh! I can see that. Don't make so much noise. For some reason, this seems familiar to me. I need to see what he's doing…"

Davimon kept on writing, not noticing Mab and Joseph looking over his shoulders. The words began as such:

 _ **Thus Prophesieth the King of the Jews;**_

 _ **Heroes gather in clashes of darkness and light**_

 _ **Both knowing who is truly right,**_

 _ **But the battle shall not end as thus,**_

 _ **Until the Dead cry: "Woe is us, WOE IS US!"**_

 _ **The Sun shall rise again, only to repeat a past sin,**_

 _ **The Moon shall consume and consume,**_

 _ **Until her hunger can be her doom.**_

 _ **Mars will see the future,**_

 _ **But ignore what is present.**_

 _ **The Devil will rely on his luck,**_

 _ **But will not see when it runs dry.**_

 _ **Death shall claim two more,**_

 _ **And Cain shall rejoice in his wickedness.**_

 _ **And victory shall not be gained,**_

 _ **Until the Prince can overcome his rage.**_

 _ **Thus ends the first prophecy**_

 _ **Of the King of the Jews.**_

Davimon finished writing, then passed out. Joseph caught him before he fell off the couch, while Mab looked at the prophecy. He snorted in disgust.

"For a prophecy, it's really poorly written. It rhymes half the time and then doesn't. Not to mention the fact that half of it is mysterious, while the other half is plain as day, and it doesn't even mention the incursions. Whoever provided this boy with a vision should really be fired."

"Can we not _critique_ the prophecy when we should be talking about the fact that we _got_ one. Do you know what this means?"

"It means someone stared too far ahead than fate is normally willing to allow."

"What?"

"That's how prophecy works. You can look as far ahead as you want, but the moment you look into the future, that becomes the future that _will_ happen. Nothing will change it. All other timelines not connected to that future are erased. That's why almost no one tries it except for some of the vaguest of things."

"How do you know that?"

"Standard education for the Sidereal Exalts, and since the exaltation in my case contains that knowledge, I know it. In any case, now is the time to theorize. Any ideas?"

"The sun part of course refers to me. And I have a decent idea what this 'past sin' thing is. The moon refers to Ms. Burlington, specifically the odd behavior she had after we defeated the creature."

"You mean when she ate the heart?"

"Yes, that. I think it's reasonable to infer from it that you won't see what's in front of you."

"I figured that as well. I'd rather not worry about it, or else I'll most likely just fulfill it that way."

"But who is the devil it mentions? Does that mean the enemy?"

"Either him, or someone else. I think I know who, but I'll need to investigate further. What I'm really worried about is the second to last part."

"How 'Cain shall rejoice in his wickedness'? Are you sure that specifically refers to me, or to an analogue?"

"Either, so I want to check on both. Mr. Cain, you are potentially a grave threat to our group. I hate to say it, but I need to monitor you so don't suddenly go off the wall. This isn't about a lack-"

"Of confidence, I understand."

"You do?"

Joseph looked at him harshly. "I've seen good men turn into monsters when under lots of stress. I've already done that before as Sol. I understand the caution, and I accept it. It's better to have someone watching me, then for me to kill innocents. Just hear me out whenever I do something suspicious, that's all I ask."

Mab regarded him for a few moments, before nodding. He turned his attention back to Davimon, who was snoring away. "How is it that he can divine?"

"I don't know, but I suspect it's something he's not telling us about. I'll wait for him to wake up."

"Then I shall do some investigating. I need to confirm my suspicions when it comes to that 'Devil' part."

 _ **The Streets Outside Giacomo's Apartment/9:25 AM**_

Giacomo went for a walk on the streets, taking in the sights. He sighed, then decided to walk back to his apartment. But then he felt the presence in his card talking to him.

 **(Cue - Mirror's Edge OST-** _ **Heat (Chase))**_

" _Do you feel that?"_

 _Feel what?_

" _That presence that's been following us for the past few blocks."_

 _I haven't felt anything… is there something whose minds I can't sense?_

" _I suspect so. I would advise caution."_

 _You? Caution?_

" _I have some sense… besides, it's only until we can confront them in a more discreet location."_

 _Very well then, let's do it._

He kept on walking, with the card telling him how close the presence was getting. He suddenly turned into an alleyway and jumped onto a building roof, then was surprised when the presence jumped up there with him. He turned around and came face-to-face with the Chosen of Mars himself.

"Who are you? How did you follow me up here?"

"I mean no harm. My name is Dialydd Mab, though in this form you may call me Merlin. I merely came here to ask you a few questions."

Giacomo glared at him. _How can I still not be able to sense this guy? Can you still get him on your radar?_

" _First off, it's not radar, it's just sensing the essence in the air. Second, I would exhibit some caution with this man."_

 _Why?_

" _Because he's a Sidereal, he may be the boss of those men we took out yesterday. One of them was a Dragonblood, after all."_

"What questions did you come here to ask?"

"Only a few…"

"I said _what,_ not _how many._ Answer the question."

"Very well then. Are you related to a 'devil' in any way? Are you considered by yourself or by others to be a lucky individual? Are-"

 **(End Theme)**

He stopped talking when a knife hit his forehead. He looked up at it, then looked to Giacomo, who had been initially smiling, but was know starting to get worried. He expressed his worries thusly:

"How are you not dead from that?"

"What, a throw from a knife? Simple, you just hit the wrong place. Plus, it didn't penetrate very far." With that he pulled the knife out of his skull. "Now if you had aimed for the heart-" Cue a throw to that spot, "-you still wouldn't have accomplished what you wanted. Knife throws won't cut it, if you'll pardon the pun."

Giacomo growled as a dark green aura surrounded him. He threw more knives at Merlin, who kept on tanking them, but, after a while began dodging them. The knives Giacomo now threw glowed sickly green, and seemed to melt the ground they hit. _Acid? Or something else?_ He eventually jumped out of the way and pulled out his card. Giacomo did the same. Merlin called to him.

"You're pretty good at this."

"Same with you."

"...you want to take this elsewhere? There are some woods outside of the city we can go to."

"Eh, sure."

 _ **Somewhere, out there.../10:05 AM**_

He was checking out a list. It had various names and locations written on it, and as he went down it and conferred with his minions, he checked off a name. His thoughts were soon interrupted by a welcome visitor.

" _ **Well, that's an issue."**_

"What is?"

" _ **The Sidereal and the camera-woman are immune to my memory alteration it seems."**_

"That _does_ present some problems."

" _ **You don't seem that worried about this turn of events."**_

"Oh, don't worry, I'm furious. I'm merely compartmentalizing it for later. Right now, I'm taking a look at our criminal rivals."

" _ **Haven't we dealt with all of those guys?"**_

"Everyone except for one…" He grimaced as an infamous face appeared on a computer screen in front of him. "...The Metal Man."

" _ **Have we figured out what he**_ **is?"**

"No, all I know is that if there is something besides this group of heroes who could dismantle this entire operation, it's him. He's able to reprogram sentry guns from a distance, to open safe doors like they were cardboard, cause bullets to jam in their guns… He's a piece of work, alright."

He didn't see, of course, the audio tap right next to him, transmitting his words to another location...

 _ **A Different Somewhere.../At that Moment…**_

" _Yes, indeed, I am a piece of work. A piece of my_ own _work_."

He put down the headpiece he had been listening from. With a snap of his fingers it disassembled itself into it's base parts. He got off his chair and went to see his lieutenants. They saw him coming and immediately bowed in his direction. He waved, and they stood up straight.

"Well, it seems that Public Enemy No. 1 is desperately looking for a way to get rid of us."

Their eyes hardened at this information.

"Of course, if PE-1 could actually sense stuff besides magical junk, he would've already moved to get rid of that nuclear bomb building itself underneath his base."

Everyone in the audience looked shocked. He merely nodded and clapped his hands.

"Yes, I am already moving against him in ways he doesn't even realize. I will give that boy credit when he went up against those men, his knife throws were accurate, but I thought then that they weren't accurate enough for my liking. However…"

His calm smile was replaced with a frown filled with worry.

"...he's finally realized he's getting Digimon, and not demons. I'm afraid that means that our bases in the Digital world are not as safe as we thought previously. Stephen," He looked to a man in a well-mannered suit. He wore glasses, had a light brown beard and carried a duel disk. "I'm going to have to transport you to the Digital World. We need a duelist like you there in the coming days. Anthony," he looked to a young man, also with a duel disk wearing a red jacket and a soccer shirt. "you're moving going to be moving against any young talents they are employing. I want not just PE-1's gang taken out, I want to eliminate any remnants as well. Sophia," he looked to a cheerful woman with raven black hair and matching clothes," you've got your usual: Cloak and Dagger. And Singer," he turned towards a woman whose skin was a pallor white, also with black hair and whose eyes were disturbingly replaced with pieces of black onyx. "Mobilize the spirits of the dead. If there is something the living cannot do… well, maybe they can help us." He looked at them all one last time, before shouting: "You have your orders. I want biweekly reports on your progress. I intend to eliminate this man and become…"

"...the True Crime King of Rome."

%\%\%\%\%

Well, I've finally introduced most of the players in the game.

The Metal Man, as he is known, has been a character who keeps trying to pop up in my various works, so I decided that I was finally going to use him here. His lieutenants are all characters I've thought up for different things, so I'm also implementing them here. I'm sure some of you will be worried at how I'm just now putting him in, but don't worry. I have _plans_ for him. *Cue Evil Laughter*

Giacomo and Merlin are going to truly begin their battle soon! And yes, there will be music and rejoicing. Much Rejoicing.

As for why the enemy is called PE-1? Because I'm lazy and haven't decided on a name for him yet. That's really it. I can do characters and conversation fine. It's just names that are difficult for me. And middles. Names and middles. So, a lot of things I guess.

Finally, I just had to make Natalie's Blank nature public. I didn't know if everyone of my viewers knew about Warhammer 40k (especially since the majority of them live in the U.S. instead of the U.K.) So, I took matters into my own hands. Or, I guess, Sansion took it into his own hands. I really don't want to make him my got-to Deus ex Machina. That's just a bad, bad idea.

Now that that's out of the way, I apologize for the late chapter. I've been stressing about schoolwork for the past few days and the moment I got home, I was immediately dragged away for family bonding time. Which meant more of my writing time down the drain. So, I'm sorry if a lot of you were disappointed about my lack of posting.

Explanation's done, so, thank you for your continued diligence and as always, reviews are always welcome and I'll try my best to reply to them.

Best of Wishes,

Critian Caceorte


	9. Chapter 9: A Duel of Two Devils

_**A/N Notes: I made a relatively small mistake in Chapter 8 in which I kept on flip-flopping between italics and non-italics for the Metal Man's Dialogue. Honestly, however, it's too much a hassle to just try and fix it. So, I'm just leaving this here for future notice.**_

Also, I'm going through the sudden flood of reviews I've been getting. So, here's something to clarify.

The Deeper Well is _not_ a reference to the Wheel of Time Series. It is actually canon lore from the Exalted Universe, and is the justification for their "Shards of the Exalted Dream" multiverse setting. I'm just using it as justification for the appearance of the Exaltations, since, you know, Multiverse stuff.

Also, Merlin is not the same one from legend (although he is named after such). He is the main character of the Safehold series, trapped in this world due to weak dimensional walls (a.k.a. Executive Meddling). I _highly_ suggest you read those books, it is one of the _best_ series I've read.

Finally, I'm sorry I'm having to explain this all, but there's one last thing to clarify. This work is "Expanded Universe", not "Alternate Dimension". This is all taking place in the same world as the YYDGM Series, it's events are just a couple of continents away and besides a few references won't be interacting with the events in Japan. The reason I brought up the Multiverse theory is to 1. Later explain Merlin's presence in this world, along with a few, ahem, _outliers._ And 2. To reference how there are so many things in various works which are a lot like the Ebon Dragon. The universe where he is two separate beings is, surprise surprise, a reference to Warhammer 40k with two of the C'tan: The Deceiver (which is just like his tendency to deception and betrayal) and the Void Dragon (they're dragons with amazing power and both have a form of darkness in their name.)

Also, the Fair Folk in the Exalted Universe call themselves the Raksha. I did not know about the Hindu connection until today.

Sorry if that is a large wall of text and if I seem a bit angry, I'm not, but as I've said in the last chapter's notes I've been having some stress with school work recently, which I've finished, but I'm still anxious about my grade since if I don't do well on this one paper _I don't graduate_. You can imagine the nail-biting that I'm doing even as I'm typing this.

And so, well, I've put if off long enough! Let the battles begin!

 _ **Outside of Rome/April 7th, 2010/11:07 AM**_

The two of them reached the chosen place. They stood, a couple of paces away from each other. Their gazes were fiercely locked on the other. The cards, their exaltations, grasped in their hand. Then, Merlin chuckled as he took what looked to be an I-pod out of his coat pocket, fiddled around with it before setting it on the ground. Giacomo looked at him, confused. Merlin smiled as he answered the unsaid question.

"I feel that it best represents the current mood here."

Giacomo still looked at him, dumbfounded, until the music began to play, and a smile began to form on his own face.

 **(Cue The Good, The Bad and The Ugly OST -** _ **Theme**_ **)**

"You magnificent bastard, I didn't even think of that."

Merlin nodded, then held out his card. Giacomo did the same, and their chanting began simultaneously.

" _The Stars foretell of a battle-_

" _The Fiend thrashes against unjust bonds-_

 _-which will fuel a path for a better tomorrow!_

 _-preventing the rise of a better tomorrow!_

 _-Power of Battle!_

 _-Power of the Devil!_

 _ **EXALT!**_ "

They transformed in a flash of red and green. Merlin's coat shimmered, transforming into Mab's leather duster, his swords transforming into a pair of pistols. His mustache shifted into a beard, his long black hair turned light brown and fit itself into a ponytail, and a tricorne hat adorned his head. His eyes burned red as the Symbol of Mars glowed on his forehead. Giacomo's transformation was more advanced. His hair turned into a fully green, curly mane as his canines elongated, not to vampire levels, just more carnivorous. His hands and arms grew fur in a tiger pattern, and his muscles grew ever so slightly. His eyes glowed green as did the rest of his body. He had become just a bit more monstrous.

With the transformations out of the way, battle was met. Mab quick-drawed his two pistols and began firing at Giacomo rapidly. He in turn dodge out of the way and began to throw more of his knives, which still burned and ate away at whatever they hit like earlier. He shouted out as he threw another knife, " _ **Green Sun Nimbus Flare!"**_ This knife exploded in a cloud of green mist, which seemed to dissolve the nearby surroundings and reduced it all to slag. Mab leaped out of the way of the explosion before firing a bullet in response, which bounced off a nearby tree and scratched the skin on his shoulder, which despite the relatively small wound seemed to bleed profusely. They traded a few more shots before Mab called out:

 **(End Theme)**

"What do you call yourself in this form?"

Giacomo kept on the offensive while replying: "You know, I haven't thought of a name. I can't just call myself Asmodeus or some other overdone name like that, you know?"

Mab tried to think under the heavy barrage. "What about Dettagli?"

That strange response made Giacomo stop, for less than a second. "'Details?' Why 'Details'?"

Mab's reply, along with his counterattack, was quick and witty. "Because that's where the Devil is!"

Giacomo laughed, even when trying to fend off this sudden assault. "That's funny, but no. How about 'Fortunato?' It's short for 'Bastardo Fortunato.'"

"'Lucky Bastard?' Eh, It fits."

"Well then, it's settled."

 **(Cue Kevin Macleod -** _ **Exit the Premises)**_

The newly christened (or would it be sataned? Who knows) 'Fortunato' threw a knife which missed and hit a tree. Where the knife had hit, a glowing green mark materialized. When Merlin got close to hit, it exploded, knocking him towards Fortunato. He regained his composure (lost after triggering the trap) and began to continue unloading his pistols. Fortunato noticed something off about the exchange.

"Wait a minute, where are you keeping all those bullets?"

"I'm a Sidereal, I rearrange fate so that there 'always was' a bullet in my magazine right before I fired. What about your knives?"

"I always keep some on me, and when they run out I convert some Essence into more."

"Hmm, that's useful."

"Thank you."

They kept at it for a few more minutes, dancing around each other's projectiles, but Fortunato seemed to slow just a little every minute the fight continued. Mab, however, was just fine. He noticed Fortunato's weariness and was about to reply with a witty one-liner…

 **(End Theme, Cue Fire Emblem Fates -** _ **Lament**_ **)**

...before a _**BOOM!**_ Was heard and a hole appeared where Mab's heart would have been. He fell over in a slump, and the sound of laughter was heard approaching their location. A large man with red, almost orange hair emerged out of the shadows, a sniper rifle in his grasp, barrel still smoking. He was still laughing at his triumph, his red beard accompanying the movements. Fortunato merely looked at Mab and back at his assassin, mind still in shock. The man introduced himself and began to gloat.

"Well met, _Merlin,_ well met. My name is Angau. I am death. I am the inevitable. And you," he began to approach Mab's fallen body, "are the latest in-"

 _ **BANG!**_

 **(End Theme)**

His gloating stopped as a bullet hit his collarbone, sending him back. The 'apperently' dead Mab got up, sparks dancing within the quite-visible hole. He merely snorted when he saw the angry man who had shot him.

 **(Cue Megadimension Neptunia VII OST -** _ **Will Be Venus**_ **)**

"I'm a bit different than your average _game_. And you, I see, are a bit different from your average _hunter_."

Indeed, Angau was visibly fine, despite the damage the bullet should have caused. He growled in disappointment as his prey began to mock him.

"I can see that. What are you, who can get back up from a shot from a .30 Caliber rifle? I even shot you where-" he paused as he saw the sparks. "So. You're not even alive, are ye?"

"Sadly for your pursuit of ' _The Most Dangerous Game'_ , no. I am a PICA, a Personality-Integrated Cybernetic Avatar. A form of android, if you will, with the personality of a now-dead human being uploaded into it. My original human body has been dead for almost a millenia. What you hit, while fatal to a human being, did even include semi-necessary parts for my survival. Sucks to be you, but in this case, _I think the Dog's going to bite_ _ **BACK.**_ "

He raised his pistols, but Angau raced out of their at speeds that cheetahs would have been envious off. Mab's visual sensors calculated the rate he was going at, and it astonished him.

"45 Miles per hour? How is that even possible? Even a human at _absolute_ peak performance could _maybe_ sprint at 40 miles per hour."

 **(End Theme)**

He noticed Fortunato looking at him, astonished. "Yes?"

"Was everything that you said… true?"

"Yes, why?"

"... Do ever feel… a bit different from everyone else. Not like you don't belong on a social level, but on an _instinctual_ level?"

"Many, many times. Probably more, if the friends I knew weren't so accepting of me and my nature. Are you asking because…" he trailed off.

Fortunato nodded in response to the unsaid question, then pulled out the Makai World I.D. card in his wallet. "I'm a bit different from your average human being as well. It's, well, it's probably going to take a few seconds to explain. Make that a few minutes, actually."

 _ **Further into the woods/11:24 AM**_

Angau scowled as he ran. And as he scowled, he began to think. _Just my luck. I get the perfect shot, and he's not even alive. That's not fun, that's not even_ target practice! _Looks like I'll just have to look for someone else on the list…_ He mentally reviewed his list of targets, before stopping his quick dash. _Oh yeah. I forgot the little missy. Well,_ he chuckled, _it's going to be a fun night tonight!_ He now merely jogged the rest of the way back to Rome, confidence in his gait.

 _ **The Lombardi's apartment/11:36 AM**_

Today was Sunday, and so the Lombardi twins, both being reasonably devout Catholics, went to Mass that morning. They were coming home when Baldur tapped Barri on the shoulder.

"Hey Barri?"

"Yeah?"

"Grab your duel disk. I have something to show you."

He ran off towards their apartment. Barri began to wonder where exactly this was going. _Why would he want me to grab my duel disk..?_ She ran off after him.

 _ **Outside Mac's/11:54 AM**_

The twins stood outside a warehouse near the edge of town. The sign on it, strangely, was written in English. It read: " _Mac's Bar and Grill: Music and Dueling for the Soul._ " Barri was the first to speak up.

"What is this place?"

Baldur turned to her, a sheepish expression on his face.

"Um, well, you know about dueling tournaments? And how there's often prize money?"

"Yes… have you been winning tournaments to help pay for courage?"

"Yeah. I didn't want to tell you because, of, well, the thing with…"

"I know, I know. But why bring me here?"

"We're going to duel."

Barri looked at him, astonished. "What?"

"Barri, I can't even remember the last time we dueled. Apparently because of trauma, according to you. I want to see how good you are. Besides, if you're worried about your powers, I planned for failsafes."

"Failsafes?"

"Come on, I'll show you when we're inside."

They went inside the warehouse. It looked just like your modern bar. There was an area for a band, which was currently empty, and several tables and stools to sit together and have a drink. The lights were quite dim, even for such an establishment. Baldur went up to the bar, where a bald with several tattoos was cleaning glasses, barkeep style.

"Hey Mac. Is the arena all set up."

The man replied in Italian, though with an _American_ accent. "Yep. Everything's ready. Although…"

"Yeah?

"Well, a friend of mine-"

" _I_ wish to join you in this duel."

The three of them looked to see a man in a professional brown suit walk up to the bar. He had brown hair and a beard with glasses on his nose. He had a duel disk attached to his arm. Barri obviously didn't know the man, Mac just smiled seeing his friend, and Baldur?

Baldur was shocked.

"Wait! You! You're Stephen Kalivas! The Professor!"

"So, you've heard of me?"

"You're the guy who dueled all those tournament champs years ago! And won!" Then Baldur's face turned to one of fear. "Crap, it's my time to get destroyed, isn't it?"

The Professor smiled just a little. "Actually, I didn't think of that, but if you want…"

"I-i'd rather not."

"Don't worry, I was merely joking. I wanted to join in your little duel because I haven't actually dueled in some time now. Do you mind if we make it a three-way?"

Surprisingly, it was Barri who replied. "Well… why not. But, has Baldur told you anything… about me?"

Mac jumped into the conversation. "He says you're a sweet girl, who, despite having a strong deck, is scared of dueling. That's why he wanted set up a session in the arena with you. The rest of details, I have no idea."

"And what Mac knows," Stephen said, "is what I know."

"Well, the arena awaits. The three of you should start using it. I have another group using it in half an hour."

"Oh, the duel won't take that long."

"I know that, but I'm just telling you guys."

 _ **The Arena/A few minutes later…**_

The arena was a bit small for, well, an arena. The spotlights were a bit dull to match the rest of the lighting in the establishment. The floor was wood, along with most of the seats in there. The Solid Light projectors started up when the three of them turned on their duel disks. Baldur called out:

"Ready?"

The other two nodded. They cried out, in time honored tradition: " _ **DUEL!"**_

Baldur said, "I'll start things off. I normal summon from my hand _**Constellar Algiedi**_!"

A shining white magician descended onto the arena floor.

 _ **Constellar Algiedi**_

 _ **LIGHT/Spellcaster/Effect**_

 _ **LVL/4 ATK/1600 DEF/1400**_

"Algiedi's effect activates! I can special summon a level-4 'Constellar' monster from my hand! I special summon _**Constellar Kaus**_!"

Now, a white centaur jumped onto the arena floor, a bow in it's hands.

 _ **Constellar Kaus**_

 _ **LIGHT/Beast-Warrior/Effect**_

 _ **LVL/4 ATK/1800 DEF/700**_

"Kaus' effect activates! Twice per turn, I can adjust a 'Constellar' monster's level by one! I increase the level of Kaus and Algiedi!"

 _ **Kaus: Level 5 (4-5)**_

 _ **Algiedi: Level 5 (4-5)**_

Now, I overlay the two of them!"

A familiar galactic spiral formed on the ground in front of him. Kaus and Algiedi fell into it in a flash of light. The spiral glowed as he began to chant:

" _Seven Sisters, grant me your power! Send me the champion of your hopes and dreams! Unify,_ _ **Constellar Pleiades!**_ "

A warrior in white appeared, a shimmering cape on it's shoulders. It held an interestingly shaped sword upside down as it's other hand was clenched in a fist.

"I place a card face down, then end my turn."

 _ **Card Count: Baldur: 3, Barri: 5, Stephen: 5**_

"I guess I'll take the next turn then." Said Barri. "I normal summon _**Informant of the Inquisition!**_ "

The familiar plain-faced, suspicious man materialized onto the field.

 _ **Informant of the Inquisition**_

 _ **DARK/Fiend/Effect**_

 _ **LVL/2 ATK/0 DEF/0**_

Stephen raised an eyebrow. "Inquisitors? That's an archetype you only really see in the U.K. meta."

"I activate Informant's effect! When he has no taint counters, I can place one on him in order to look at one facedown card on my opponent's side of the field. I of course choose Baldur's face down card."

His face down card flipped up so that only she could see it. It was _**Constellar Meteor**_ , a trap. She nodded as Informant began to glow purple.

"I activate _**The Inquisitor Cycle!**_ Now, I shuffle Informant into my deck and play an Inquisitor monster from my hand!"

Informant's brains were blown out by a pistol, which was then discarded as a man in dark priest's room emerged from the shadows. He had a large nose, which accompanied his dark sneer, meanwhile one of his hands held a fire poker.

"I summon _**Layden, the Sadistic Inquisitor!**_ "

 _ **Layden, the Sadistic Inquisitor**_

 _ **DARK/Fiend/Effect**_

 _ **LVL/5 ATK/2000 DEF/0**_

"I place two cards face down and end my turn."

 _ **Card Count: Baldur: 3, Barri: 2, Stephen: 5**_

The two of them turned to Stephen, who looked at the field, his hand stroking his beard. He drew his card, then sighed.

"Well, time to get things started. I summon _**Instrument of Battle Violin.**_ "

A violin appeared, playing a simple tune.

 _ **Instrument of Battle Violin**_

 _ **WIND/Fairy/Effect**_

 _ **LVL/4 ATK/1500 DEF/500**_

"'Instruments of Battle'?" Said Baldur, "Never heard of them."

"I thought you said this man was famous?"

"Yeah, he's famous for trouncing some of the old tournament champs in the area with cards no one has ever seen before. I guess these are it."

"You would be correct in your assumption. I keep these cards secret for a reason that will be evident later. In any case, Violin's effect activates. When it is normal summoned onto the field, I can special summon another 'Instrument of Battle' monster from my hand. I special summon _**Instrument of Battle Trumpet."**_

A trumpet emerged, playing its own little ditty.

 _ **Instrument of Battle Trumpet**_

 _ **WIND/Fairy/Effect**_

 _ **LVL/4 ATK/1000 DEF/1000**_

"I now activate the effect of the _**Instrument of Battle Orchestral Drums**_ in my hand. Since there are two 'Instrument of Battle' monsters on my field, I can special summon Orchestral Drums from my hand."

With a loud crash, a whole section of drums fell down onto the battle field.

 _ **Instrument of Battle Orchestral Drums**_

 _ **WIND/Fairy/Effect**_

 _ **LVL/4 ATK/500 DEF/1500**_

"And now the players are gathered. The show is about to begin. Perhaps now," (he seemed to ooze style and hammedness) "I may tell you the great secret behind this line of cards."

"What is it?" Asked Baldur, worry forming on his face.

"Instrument of Battle Violin… is a _tuner_ monster."

"A what?"

"What..?"

"And due to Trumpet's effect, when there is a tuner monster on the field, it is considered a tuner monster as well."

"What the hell is a _tuner_ monster?!"

"Watch and learn. Now, I tune my level 4 Instrument of Battle Orchestral Drums with _both_ level 4 Instrument of Battle Violin and level 4 Instrument of Battle Trumpet!"

Violin and Trumpet disappeared into glowing green rings. They surrounded Orchestral Drums in a X-formation, with Drums turning into 4 balls of light which aligned themselves within the green x.

 _ **Tuning: 4 (Violin)+ 4 (Trumpet)+ 4 (Orchestral Drums)= Lv.12**_

 **(Cue Dvorak's New World Symphony, Fourth Movement)**

" _Valor and the shadows in the night synchronize together to form… THE SYMPHONY OF THE NIGHT! I Synchro Summon..._ _ **Symphonic Battler Dvorak 9-4!**_ "

Shadowy mists appeared and out of them came a black knight, wielding a large onyx-black greatsword. A black cape flew while attached to his shoulders. The New World Symphony seemed to blast from speakers that simply weren't there. It was... awe inspiring.

 _ **Symphonic Battle Dvorak 9-4**_

 _ **DARK/Warrior/Effect**_

 _ **LVL/12 ATK/4000 DEF/1200**_

The two twins were struck dumb at the sight. They exclaimed their astonishment at the same time:

" _SYNCHRO SUMMON?"_

%\%\%\%\%

Dun Dun Dun… Somehow, Synchro Summon enters the play, and a Double-Tuning at that!

Speaking of which, am I salty that Konami created a "Symphonic" archetype before I was able to implement mine? Yes, YES I AM.

Angau is going to make another move very soon, but this time against another new character. I wouldn't worry, she's only going to last one chapter.

Crap, well, there's a spoiler guys!

As for where the Professor got his 'Instrument of Battle' monsters, well, there's a bit of a story behind that. I always wanted to do a Yugioh Fanfic, and I cycled through various ideas and characters, but one of the characters that was _always_ there was the Professor. I initially thought of him up as a "music reviewer in disguise", you know, the kind you always see in sitcoms. That musical origin became the beginning of his love of music and his Duel Monsters Deck. I later set him up as a university professor when I was thinking of a university setting. And so, he became the Professor. As to why he's called that in this story, well, it's like wrestler names (or something like that), it's a title he's earned.

Mac actually got his origin in that same university setting. He was originally the bandmate of the Professor (and in this universe, still is.) He played bass, the Professor played Guitar and other people did vocals and drums. I decided to keep him in the story, because I like the pairing of the rough guy with the sophisticated man.

There are probably other things I can talk about, but I can't remember them, so I'll just end this here. Thank you for all the reviews, I hope you guys keep on reading.

Dream on, Guys,

Critian Caceorte


	10. Chapter 10: Light turns to dusk

_**The Arena/April 7th, 2010/12:10 PM**_

Baldur stared at the black knight in front of him. He still couldn't believe what he had heard. _Synchro Summon… what in the world is that?_ His thoughts paused when he heard what Stephen had to say next.

"A Synchro Summon is performed when you take the levels of a tuner monster on the field and a non-tuner monster and they together equal the level of the Synchro Monster you wish to summon. Of course, the Symphonic Battlers are a bit unique in that they require _2_ tuners. But that's beside the point. In any case, since three 'Instrument of Battle' monsters left the field simultaneously this turn, I can play _**Symphonic Recurrence.**_ Now I can add 1 'Instrument of Battle' monster from my deck to my hand. Additionally, I can also play _**Symphonic Rebound**_ the same reasons, which allows me to bring back one of the monsters I sent to the graveyard. Now I bring back Instrument of Battle Trumpet."

Trumpet reappeared onto the battlefield.

"Finally, before I end my turn, I play the field spell _**Symphonic World Stage.**_ "

The arena shimmered and disappeared, replaced with the view of a massive concert hall. The three duelists were behind the curtain, their monster's taking center stage.

"Unfortunately, it's effect does not activate until my next turn. With that, I pass the torch to you, Baldur."

 _ **Card Count: Baldur: 3, Barri: 2, Stephen: 1**_

Baldur nodded grumpily. _He doesn't have any traps, and his hand is empty. Why didn't he attack me or Barri? Hmm, he probably knows Pleiades effect, then, and didn't want to risk anything. But what is his monster's effect?_ He drew his card for the turn, then looked at his hand. _I have the beginnings for something, I just need another Algiedi to pull it off._

"I set a card, then end my turn."

 _ **Card Count: Same**_

Barri wasn't surprised that her brother didn't attack or make a major move. But, she was surprised that he didn't activate Pleiades effect. _He could have gotten rid of that monster, but he didn't. What is he planning? Is he afraid that Stephen will just summon it again?_ She drew a card, then made her move.

"I activate _**Heretical Summoning**_ on my field! With this card, I can special summon a level five or lower monster from my deck, but in exchange I must place a number of taint counters on monsters I control equal to the summoned monster's level. I place five taint counters on Layden, then I special summon from my deck _**Crowe, the Purifying Inquisitor!**_ "

A large silver armored knight entered the field, wielding a large, demonic blade. He struggled with the sword for a bit before plunging it into the earth. Meanwhile, Layden's wicked sneer grew more and more as the purple light around him seemed to distort the very air around him.

 _ **Crowe, the Purifying Inquisitor**_

 _ **LIGHT/Warrior/Effect**_

 _ **LVL/5 ATK/3000 DEF/2000**_

"3000 attack points?!" Baldur shouted.

"Yep, and he's going to use them to attack Pleiades! Now go! _**Strike of the Black Blade!**_ "

Crowe charged towards Pleiades, but stopped when Baldur shouted, "I activate Pleiades effect! I remove an Xyz material and send Crowe back to your hand!" With that, the knight disappeared into thin air.

Barri nodded when she heard this. _I can still use him later in the game. All that matters is that I got the taint counters on Layden._ She said in response: "I end my turn, and Layden's effect activates! Now, he deals 200 points of damage to the two of you for every taint counter on him. That's 1000 to the two of you!"

Layden got his fire poker red hot, and was about to charge…

...when a _mountain_ got in his way.

"What?"

Stephen answered without even looking up from his cards. "Dvorak 9-4's effect. Life points for both players cannot be altered by effects."

"WHAT?!"

"And with that, I believe I shall take my turn."

 _ **Card Count: Baldur: 3, Barri: 3, Stephen: 1**_

Stephen drew, then told the two of them: "Symphonic World Stage's effect activates. Instead of drawing, I may instead search my deck for an 'Instrument of Battle' monster, and add it to my hand, while revealing it. I add _**Instrument of Battle Vocals**_ to my hand. I then normal summon _**Instrument of Battle Electric Guitar.**_ "

An electric guitar appeared, arriving onto the field with a crazy high-speed solo.

 _ **Instrument of Battle Electric Guitar**_

 _ **WIND/Fairy/Tuner**_

 _ **LVL/4 ATK/1000 DEF/1000**_

"Electric Guitar's effect activates. For the rest of my turn, all of my other monsters gain 500 atk."

 _ **Dvorak 9-4 Atk 4500 (4000+500)**_

 _ **Trumpet Atk 1500 (1000+500)**_

"And of course, with a tuner monster on the field, Trumpet is now also considered a tuner monster.I activate Vocal's effect. By removing an Instrument of Battle monster in my graveyard from play, I can special summon it, but it is not considered a tuner monster while on the field."

A microphone appeared onto the field, oddly silent compared to the other instruments' entrances.

 _ **Instrument of Battle Vocals**_

 _ **WIND/Fairy/Effect**_

 _ **LVL/4 ATK/500 DEF/500**_

 _ **Vocals Atk 1000 (500+500)**_

"Now, the stage is set for a new melody to grace our ears. I tune the level 4 Instrument of Battle Vocals with level 4 Instrument of Battle Electric Guitar and level 4 Instrument of Battle Trumpet!"

The two tuners disappeared into green rings of light. They formed an X-formation, and Vocals transformed into 4 balls of light, which aligned themselves into the pattern. The Professor chanted:

" _Sand and Howling Winds synchronize together to form: THE SYMPHONY OF DISASTER! 'Here I am!' I Synchro Summon_ _ **Symphonic Battler Scorpions '84!**_ "

 **(Cue Scorpions (Moment of Glory Album) -** _ **Rock You Like A Hurricane (Moment of Glory Version)**_ **)**

A sandstorm suddenly appeared, covering the battlefield in dust and grit. In the middle of the storm was a large dust devil, and within _that_ was a large knight with light brown armor. Where gauntlets should be he instead carried large crustacean claws. He spun on a large scorpion's tail, and atop his helmet was a wolf's head, tongue sticking out. A familiar rock tune began to play within the arena...

 _ **Symphonic Battle Scorpions '84**_

 _ **WIND/Warrior/Synchro/Effect**_

 _ **LVL/12 ATK/2800 DEF/0**_

 _ **Scorpions '84 Atk 3300 (2800+500)**_

 _Crap, I was expecting a lot of things, but not… well, that!_ Thought Barri.

"Battle Phase. Scorpions '84, attack Layden! _**Fury of the Hurricane!**_ "

"I activate my trap card! _**Prolonged Suffering!**_ When a monster would destroy a monster I control by battle, by taking double the battle damage I can prevent it's destruction!"

Scorpions '84 spun towards Layden's position. It raised a claw, then crushed him in it's blow. However, contrary to what Barri was expecting, Layden still broke into infinitesimal pieces.

 _ **Barri LP 1400 (4000-2600)**_

"What? But his destruction was supposed to be negated!"

"Scorpions '84's effect. Monsters it attacks cannot have their destruction prevented. Only negating the actual _battle_ will work. It is a force of destruction. Did you really think a few sly deals were going to stop it?"

Barri cringed outwardly. _Well, there's goes that plan._

"And with that, your field is lay bare. Dvorak 9-4, attack her directly!"

Baldur shouted now. "I activate Pleiades' effect! I send Dvorak 9-4 back to your extra deck!"

The black knight disapparated into particles at a wave of Pleiades' hand. One of the shining orbs surrounding him disappeared. Stephen seemed unfazed by this.

"That's your last Xyz material on Pleiades. If that is your decision, oh well. I end my turn."

 _ **Scorpions '84 ATK 2800 (3300-500)**_

 _ **Card Count: Baldur: 3, Barri: 3, Stephen: 0**_

 _This is bad,_ thought Baldur. _I need something good, fast._ He closed his eyes and put his hand on his next card, which unbeknownst to him, glowed pitch black. He drew, then opened his eyes to see what he drew. His eyes widened in surprise. _Wait… I didn't place this card in my deck!_

 _ **A World Away/That Moment**_

A certain wizard listened half-heartedly to the report the jury was giving, his mind viewing the twin's duel from afar. _Don't worry, boy._

 _I still have another card to play._

 _ **Back at the Arena…**_

Baldur played his mysterious new card. "I activate the field spell _**Shadowmoor, the Inverse Plane!**_ "

The concert hall broke into pieces as Moonlight descended onto the arena. The duelist found themselves in a dark forest, with glowing eyes watching their every movement. Stephen was surprised at this turn of events. _Well, this is new._

"Shadowmoor's effect activates! Once per turn, I can target a Light-Attribute Xyz monster on the field and return it to my extra deck, and special summon a Dark-Attribute Synchro monster of the same level as the Xyz monster's rank!"

Stephen surprise turned to shock. _Wait, how does_ he _have Synchro monsters? He didn't even know how the mechanic worked! Something else is at play here…_ He tore off his glasses, and his brown eyes glowed blue. _Ah, that's what's going on here…_

"I swap out Constellar Pleiades for the level 5 Synchro monster _**The Exalted Dusk!**_ "

Pleiades disappeared into a smoke cloud, which dissipated to reveal a dark tyrant clad in imposing black armor. He carried a huge black sword with a matching shield. He raised his sword in terrible triumph and let loose a demonic battle cry.

 _ **The Exalted Dusk**_

 _ **DARK/Warrior/Synchro/Effect**_

 _ **LVL/5 ATK/2000 DEF/2000**_

"Now, Dusk! Attack Scorpions '84! _**Sword of the Dark Messiah!**_ "

It charged towards the knight in the whirlwind, and as it did, a dark aura surrounded it. The brown knight seemed hesitant to raise it's weapons to defend itself.

 _ **Scorpions '84 Atk 2300 (2800-500)**_

 _ **The Exalted Dusk Atk 2500 (2000+500)**_

Stephen just nodded as he saw all of this. "Care to explain what's happening to your sister?"

"Sure. When The Exalted Dusk attacks a monster, all monsters that player controls lose 500 attack points, and all monsters I control gain 500 attack points, until the end of the turn. Now, Scorpions '84 has less attack points then The Exalted Dusk!"

Indeed, the Exalted Dusk sliced through the helmet of the brown knight, and it broke apart into pieces. The wind now disappeared, but not before crashing into Stephen's face.

 _ **Stephen LP 3800 (4000-200)**_

"And now, I end my turn."

 _ **Card Count: Same**_

 _ **The Exalted Dusk Atk 2000 (2500-500)**_

Barri had long since gone slackjawed at what had happened in the past minute or so. _What… just happened here?_ To her credit, she quickly recovered and drew a card. "I summon _**Sentinels of the Inquisition!**_ "

A group of men in breastplates and carrying large shields appeared to protect Barri.

 _ **Sentinels of the Inquisition**_

 _ **Light/Warriors/Effect**_

 _ **LVL/4 ATK/300 DEF/2300**_

"Sentinels' effect activates! When it is normal summoned, it automatically switches to defense mode! And now I once more activate the effect of Faustian Bargain! I place a taint counter on Sentinels and resurrect Layden, the Sadistic Inquisitor!"

Layden returned to the field, surrounded by purple along with the sentinels.

"I activate the effect of the Inquisitor Cycle, and replace the Sentinels with Crowe!"

A barrage of machine gun fire reduced the Sentinels to pieces, and Crowe emerged to fight again.

"I play from my hand the spell card _**Dark Secret of the Inquisition.**_ Now, whenever an Inquisition or Inquisitor monster with taint counters is destroyed, I can place a taint counter on Dark Secret."

"Now that Stephen's field is clear, Layden and Crowe are ready for a direct attack! Go! _**Strike of the Black Blade! Undeserved Cruelty!**_ "

"Um, Barri, aren't you worried that-"

She was caught up in the moment, however, and the two monsters swung down to strike Stephen. His eyes glowed bright blue, and somehow his physical body wasn't damaged.

 _ **Stephen LP 0 (3800-5000)**_

Barri's surprise was evident. "Wait a minute. How come those attacks didn't hurt you?"

The glow faded from Stephen's eyes. He put his glasses back on. "I have… a power if you will. While it did prevent the harm to my body…" his shoulders slumped quite a bit, and he staggered around just a little, "it really tires me out to use it. So if you'll excuse me, my nap awaits me." And with that, he stumbled away to the door.

Barri and Baldur watched him leave, then turned to face each other. Both shrugged their shoulders, unsure of how to respond.

 _ **Outside the Arena Door…**_

The Professor, upon closing the door behind him immediately ended his tired facade and went to the warehouse exit. However, his phone began ringing. He knew who it was. He picked it up.

"Yes?"

" _So, you used the power._ "

"You and I both know it was necessary so that I didn't suffer any physical damage."

" _I know that, and I accept it. I just wish that you use it a little less frequently. I know just using it like that wouldn't tire you out that much, but extensive use_ will. _Just be careful. I'd rather not lose an officer due to too much confidence."_

And with that, he hung up. The Metal Man knew that Stephen knew his own limits, it was just a friendly reminder. _You know, for a crime boss, he isn't such a bad person. I wonder why…_ He discontinued that line of thinking and finished walking out of the building.

 _ **The Arena**_

The twins were now alone in their duel. Baldur stared at Barri, and vice versa. She said, "I end my turn, and Crowe's effect activates. At the end of every turn, I must place a taint counter on another Inquisition or Inquisitor monster, or else he's destroyed. So, I place one on Layden. Then Layden's effect activates. You take 200 points of damage for every taint counter he has on him. That's 400 damage."

Baldur grimaced as Layden stabbed him with his hot poker.

 _ **Baldur LP 3600 (4000-400)**_

 _ **Card Count: Baldur: 3, Barri: 1**_

Baldur drew a card, then a grin formed on his face. _Yes, Algiedi! Just what I needed!_ "I normal summon _**Constellar Pollux!"**_

A white warrior descended from the heavens, half of his face hidden behind a mask.

 _ **Constellar Pollux**_

 _ **LIGHT/Warrior/Effect**_

 _ **LVL/4 ATK/1700 DEF/600**_

"Pollux's effect activates! The turn he is normal summoned, I can normal summon a second time! I summon a second Constellar Algiedi!"

A second Algiedi joined Pollux onto the field.

"Algiedi's effect activates! I now special summon from my hand _**Constellar Sombres!**_ "

A blue fairy surrounded by magical runes arrived in a pillar of light.

 _ **Constellar Sombres**_

 _ **LIGHT/Fairy/Effect**_

 _ **LVL/4 ATK/1550 DEF/1600**_

"You know what this means! Using my three level 4 monsters, I create the overlay network!"

A familiar spiral appeared, and the three monsters disappeared into it. It began to glow as it's power built.

" _Crest of power, hear my will. Unite the stars under your living banner! Cry for victory against my foes! I Xyz Summon_ _ **Number 69: Heraldry Crest!**_ "

The number sixty-nine materialized in the air, and out of it came a black and silver monster, with blades for arms and with a terrible visage.

 _ **Number 69: Heraldry Crest**_

 _ **LIGHT/Psychic/Xyz/Effect**_

 _ **RANK/4 ATK/2600 DEF/1400**_

"I now activate _**Rank-Up Magic Limited Barian's Force**_ in order to evolve Heraldry Crest to a new level of power! _Crest of power, hear my will. Unite the galaxy under your living banner! Let our enemies cry in terror at your awesome might! I Chaos Xyz Summon_ _ **Number C69: Heraldry Crest of Horror!**_ "

Heraldry Crest was enveloped in a red ball of chaotic energy, and then a new red and gold figure emerged, it's fiendish traits more emphasized than before.

 _ **Number C69: Heraldry Crest of Horror**_

 _ **LIGHT/Psychic/Xyz/Effect**_

 _ **RANK/5 ATK/4000 DEF/1800**_

"Now, Heraldry Crest of Horror! Attack Crowe! _**Might of the Accursed!"**_

Heraldry Crest of Horror fired a large red blast at Crowe. It and he exploded in a burst of light.

 _ **Barri LP 400 (1400-1000)**_

"Now, The Exalted Dusk attacks Layden, and his effect activates! Now his attack points become 2500, and Layden's becomes 1500! Charge! _**Sword of the Dark Messiah!**_ "

The Exalted Dusk charged, and slashed Layden with his death-giving blade. Layden screamed, then dissolved into pieces.

 _ **Barri 0 (400-1000)**_

The field returned to it's original state, and Barri and Baldur turned their duel disks off. They walked out of the arena, which Mac hurried to get ready for use again. They left for their apartment, and along the way, Barri asked Baldur an important question.

"Where did you get that field spell from?"

"I… actually have no idea. It wasn't in my deck when we began the duel, so… I don't know."

Barri did not follow up on that, but the gears in her mind began turning, processing this new information. _If he didn't put that card in his deck…_

 _... then who did?_

%\%\%\%\%

Well, the duel's finally done.

What to talk about… oh yeah! So, as you can probably tell, the Instruments of Battle are of course based on instruments, and the Symphonic Battlers are based on famous songs (not just symphonies, through there are a couple of those.) There are also one Symphonic Battle per attribute, so so far we have:

Light:

Dark: Dvorak's New World Symphony, 4th Movement (you know, the one that shows up in anime all the time!)

Fire:

Water:

Wind: Scorpions' Rock You Like A Hurricane (the Moment of Glory version, in specific)

Earth:

Shadowmoor, the Inverse Plane is of course a reference to the Dual Plane of Lorwyn/Shadowmoor from Magic: the Gathering. I wanted something that could show the "flip" between Light and Darkness. Is this foreshadowing for something? To quote Phineas of _Phineas and Ferb_ fame: "Yes, yes it is."

What is Stephen's strange power? ...Wait, you want me to _tell_ you? No, no, you'll find out eventually.

We also see the Metal Man's softer side. It's soft, for, well, someone made of metal.

I don't think there is anything else to talk about. So, thank you guys for your reviews, please continue reading, I'll try and get these chapters out as soon as I can.

Your Faithful (and expedient) Writer,

Critian Caceorte


	11. Chapter 11: Of Man, Machine and Monster

_**A/N Notes:**_ A warning to all readers:

 **THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS GIANT WALLS OF TEXT. BE VERY AFRAID OF THE GIANT WALLS OF TEXT, BUT CARRY ON WITH THE STORY. IT'S FOR YOUR OWN GOOD I SWEAR.**

 _ **Outside the City Borders/April 7th, 2010/12:30 PM**_

Merlin couldn't believe what he was hearing. A world of demons, of spirits… Merlin knew plenty of people who believed in a divine creator, he himself was once an okay Christian, but recent events in his life had shaken his belief. Even with all the magic going on, and with the evidence Sansion's book had shown him, he still had his doubts about a traditional "heaven." But now, what did he really believe?

"Merlin, you okay?"

He looked to Giacomo, who had just spent the last… half hour explaining his ancestral home to him. He shook his head. "It's all just… hard to believe. Even with all the magic, I found all the things you talked about… hard to believe. But now… I'm still wrapping my head around this."

Giacomo nodded, then tilted his head in thought. "I think I know what could get this stuff off your mind."

"What?"

"Where are you from? Scratch that, who _are_ you, really?"

Merlin paused. "That," he said slowly, "I guess, is the several million dollar question. Very well, since you told me your story… I guess I'll tell you mine." He cleared his throat, then began his tale.

 **(Cue Kansas -** _ **Carry on my Wayward Son**_ **)**

"When I was still among the living, I was born the _daughter_ of a very rich man."

"Wait, daughter?" The shock on Giacomo's face was evident.

Merlin smirked. "I didn't _always_ radiate this much testosterone, if that is what you are asking. But, yes, in life I _was_ a girl. Admittedly, a very tomboyish girl. I loved kendo, rock climbing, sailing, all of those activities you don't usually associate with woman. It was probably because I knew my mother only a little. My parents divorced shortly after I was born. Which was probably why my father spoiled me constantly, now that I think of it. In any case, shortly after I was born there was the discovery of a long-lost alien civilization. It was the first definitive proof we had that there was life in the universe. As you can probably guess, these were very exciting times in our little multi-planet federation. And then we discovered why that alien civilization was 'long-lost'. There was another race of aliens, the Gbaba, who for some reason tried to eliminate all other life in the galaxy. Now that we had become a space-faring people, we were next.

"So, our government went into a state of preparation. This was the culture I was raised, you must understand this. This was life as I knew it. We always knew the Gbaba would visit us some time, and by visit I mean launch an attack, of course. We looked at the alien's technology to find as much as we could. What we couldn't find, we invented. I, being the tomboy that I was, decided to join the Navy. After I graduated the academy, I rose through the ranks until I had become a Lieutenant Commander, serving under one Commodore Pei Kau-yung. I soon became fast friends with him and his wife Doctor Pei Shan-wei, one of the ship's administrators. While this was all happening, it happened. The Gbaba arrived, albeit with only a scout fleet. Thanks to some tactical genius, we defeated them soundly, and we began to feel quite proud of ourselves. We didn't know back then that fleets was only a 'scout' fleet. So a few years later, the whole armada showed up. Obviously, we couldn't take them. They were too advanced technologically wise and there were too many of them. The only advantage we had against them was that we adapted quite quickly, while they seemed incapable of it. However, that only delayed the inevitable.

"So, a desperate plan was created in order to preserve humanity. One that required perfect planning. Two ships carrying volunteers along with some small military ships were set up as bait. When the Gbaba moved in to attack them, they jumped into hyperspace, at which point _another_ fleet would arrive from hyperspace at their exact location, _precisely_ at the moment of time when the first ships left. This deception actually worked against the Gbaba, and they most likely assumed that the first ships had suffered a malfunction trying to activate their hyperdrives. Thus the first ships escaped, and the second wave of ships… tried taking the Gbaba down with them. I was on the _second_ wave, and apparently (although I wouldn't remember this, of course) I died with the rest of the crew. That's not the end of my story, however, and I will get to that.

"That first wave spent _10 years_ in hyperspace. That's faster-than-light travel, for 10 years, when most ships only spent about a few minutes at most traveling those speeds. This was to ensure that wherever we finally stopped, we would be as far from the Gbaba as we could. But that wasn't all. The first ship stayed, the second ship spent _another_ 10 years traveling in hyperspace. Where they are now, I have no idea. But let us focus on this first ship for a second, shall we?

"The people aboard the first ship named the planet they stopped at 'Safehold', because that planet was our safest point. My dear friend Shan-wei was in charge of doing the terraforming on that planet, which she did quite well. Now, there was another important part of the plan. The colonists, those who would be living on the planet, would have their memories wiped so that we could regain our technology at a slow pace. We didn't want the Gbaba to detect any energy signatures around the planet, you see. But _someone_ , by the name of Eric Langhorne, just _had_ to obtain a _god complex_ , and so he wanted to be worshipped. So he created this church called 'The Church of God Awaiting', where the administrators who didn't have their memories wiped would be 'angels' with him being the highest one of all. Kau-yung and Shan-wei, along with a few others, opposed this, believing that such an experiment would create only disaster. That's when Langhorne came up with his 'brilliant idea'. After all, don't all churches need some kind of _devil_?

"And thus, Shan-wei and her friends were forced to take the fall, so that Langhorne and his cronies could sate their desire for worship. However, and this is an important however, Shan-wei had a back-up plan. A plan that involves yours truly. You see, having a rich dad of course has it's perks. One of those perks was being able to get one of the latest models in PICA technology. So, she had a copy of my memories made before I was sent off to the suicide mission that she then downloaded in the PICA I had. And, thanks to another friend, she was able to get rid of that pesky government regulation that said that all PICA's must be programmed with a 10-day limit. Without getting rid of the limit, I would have been useless after little more than a week. So, once the ship had arrived at Safehold, she secreted this body away into one of the mountains she was terraforming at the moment. Along with enough futuristic weapons and supplies to sustain a small nation, but that's besides the point.

"After Langhorne had Shan-wei 'condemned', he of course killed her in cold blood, but not before her husband Kau-yung was able to snuggle in a _pocket nuke_ into Langhorne's planning room and kill him and most of his associates. What happened after that and when I was awoken, well, we still don't know that. In any case, about 900 years after the ship had arrived at Safehold, I was awoken. It's quite… difficult, you know, to hear that you had died, and yet your conscience existed in another body, a non-biological one… it was disheartening. But I was informed by a recording by Kau-yung right before his passing what had happened and what my mission was: destroy that abominable church, reveal to the people the secrets of the past and lead them to the technology that humanity once possessed. It was an easier task that you think. I, thanks to my mechanical body was immortal and, compared to the muskets the people had at the time, bullet proof.

"I decided soon after waking up and doing a quick surveilance of the land, with how the current political climate was, that it would be better for me to become a man than to stay a woman. The people had regressed back a male-dominant society, and if I wanted to get anything done I of _course_ had to dominate. Thus, Nimue Alban died and Merlin Arthrawes was born. Fun fact, the name 'Arthrawes' means 'teacher' in Welsh. And that was the role I had take upon: A holy man, with mysterious powers, who taught one of the most liberal kings, the prince of Charis at the time, how become _more_ liberal and to 'discover' the various technologies throughout the ages. I believe that the foundryman, Howsmyn, would, if I had to demand a reward for the 'hints' I gave him, be forced to pay me the modern day equivalent of _trillions_.

"What happens afterwards… I don't really want to talk about. Needless to say, I became friends with all of these people, and so when I was suddenly _ripped_ away from them and taken to another Earth, one still in the Age of the Internet, I went just a _little_ ballistic. My purpose had been taken from me, I was making so much progress, we were taking it to the Church and doing _well_ in that regard. So why had God or whomever seen fit to take me away from this life and place me in a situation where once more I knew no one and was an extreme oddity. I wandered the land after that, finally coming here, to Rome. Along the way, however, I discovered several… _differences_ between my Earth's past and this world's present. On my Earth, there was no 'demon world', no 'Sailor Senshi', Duel Monsters was just a card game and Digimon… I don't even think we had _media_ of Digimon.

"That's when my confidence began to work itself back into shape. So I wasn't the strangest man in the world! I could maybe join this little group of theirs, and help _save_ humanity once more. Of course, with all that's happening here I decided that HERE is where I was needed, not Japan.

"And that's my tale, maybe not in it's entirety but certainly in it's completion."

 **(End Theme)**

Giacomo was now the one having a hard time wrapping his head around something. "Wow, that's… wow."

"Indeed it is."

"Wait, there's still one more thing you haven't told me."

"What's that?"

"If you were born a woman… did you ever feel like, I don't know, some part of you was actually a man?"

"You mean whether I was a FtM Transgender?"

"Yes."

"No. I will admit though," Merlin said this all causually, "that you look pretty attractive to me."

Giacomo gulped. "Um, I don't know man, I don't walk those streets-"

"I know, I know, I shouldn't have poked fun at you, but yes to a degree I am still attracted to the male sex although being in a mechanical body really… represses that. That's why I haven't dated in almost a millenia, besides the whole 'in a deep sleep' thing."

"Well, I'm just glad that I found someone I can relate to."

"Indeed, Giacomo, indeed. And let us both hope that nothing major happens to soon."

Unfortunately for Merlin's optimism, such thinking was… _impractical._

 _ **In the nearby town of Ciampino/3:27 PM**_

Anna-Lisa De Luca looked out across the town, admiring the view much like she usually did. She was in her 50's, and as such was, to put it mildly, getting old. Even with modern medicine, she looked far older than most people her age, but she didn't mind. The old age was worth it in order to experience peace and prosperity for the rest of her life. Her children, now with children of their own still visited regularly, they had all decided to live closer to Rome, to feel what it was like to live in a big city rather than a small town. According to them, the various neighborhoods they all lived in were nice and friendly.

However, they passed on rumors to her. Rumors of creatures, aliens, coming in from the sky. They never experienced it personally, and so didn't really believe it, but she had learned when they had been but babes that some outrageous stories… were often true.

She had been a soldier, if you could call her that, before she had married and given birth to her kids. Anyone familiar with comics would have called her a 'superhero'. That was her job, and her now-lost husband's job. They had been a crime-fighting duo, bashing in the heads of the Mafia and other various criminal scum. But her husband's downfall was that he took the 'Batman' approach to superheroism: No powers, no magic, only human mind, muscle and memory. She too initially did the same, working out to improve her physique, taking criminology classes in order to solve the crimes committed by her foes...

...Until she found something, apparently fallen onto her lawn, twenty years ago.

 _ **Twenty Years Ago...**_

That morning she had been preparing breakfast for their family, while still trying to do the laundry in between. As anyone who has tried to do this can attest to, it didn't really get either done. She also had to deal with the kids, who had been too young to be in school yet. It was… quite stressful, as you could imagine. So when something went _BONK_ across the window, she was just a bit too busy to hear it. Thank the Lord for the distractive potential of children, whoever.

Her eldest daughter, who had just turned 4, ran to her. "Mama, Mama!"

She turned to her, trying to keep the anxiety off of her face. "What is it, darling?"

"Something hit the window!"

"It did?"

"Yeah! It's on the lawn now!"

She went outside to investigate. What she saw confused her. Lying on the ground beneath the window was a blank white mask. She could tell it was a mask based on the ovaloid shape, but she did not know what it was for. It had no details on it whatsoever, indeed, it looked like someone's school project that they had forgotten to finish. But it couldn't have come from someone's house, her home was on the edge of town, the forests were behind her, forests which she and her husband, as per their duty, meticulously scouted on a regular basis. Their last 'check' had been just last week, so she doubted that it was some sort of villain's property they had dropped while spying on her. She put on the mask to see if it would fit her face for anything (good masks were hard to come by).

But what happened then was still to this day too beautiful to describe. The mask had granted her powers beyond man's wildest dreams, literally in this case. It transfigured her, transformed her, in both mind and body. Thus she became Fata Di Ciampino, the Fairy of Ciampino.

 _ **The present day…**_

But that was all in the past. Her husband was dead, having pushed himself too far. Her kids were grown up and had moved away. And she, despite her town's pleasant community, despite the beauty of the view she had from her house porch, was still alone. Loneliness, however, would prove to be an advantage in the coming moments.

She heard the man approach before she saw him, but she could sense the malicious intent in his presence. He had orange hair and beard, and a hunter's stare was in his eyes.

This… was her ill-fated meeting with the man, nay, the creature known to us as Angau.

He smiled when she saw him. Her face tightened her frown further at his expression. This man was trouble. Trouble without remorse.

"Well, good day to you, mam."

"What have you come here to do to me?"

"Excuse me?" He feigned a look of astonishment at this harsh question, before his familiar cruel smile appeared once more on his face. "Am I that much of an open book?"

"I've seen that look before. The look of a criminal, about to commit a crime that will not only profit him, but will be one that he can get away with. No risk, all reward. It's common among your type."

"Well, that explains why I haven't exactly gotten the ladies to fall at my feet before. At least, the _living_ ones."

Despite her years of experience, she still shuddered internally at that statement. _He really has no morals, does he._

"Oh, well, I don't really need the living ones anyways. I got a job to do, but this… this is _after hours._ " He said that last part with the same slithering tone a snake would give before it devoured it's prey.

She kept up a brave face. No way in hell she was going to give this man what he wanted. "I ask again. What do you want from me? Is it my body? My life? My home, my property?"

"To a degree, your property. There is something in your possession that I desire to put to… _better use_. A certain theater mask, for example?"

Her frown turned to a look of disgust. "I've heard they make decent masks in hell. Are you sure you don't wish to take a visit there first?"

His dark grin turned sadistic. "I actually already checked there first. The salesman was okay, but I've heard that the Fair Folk are the masters of theatre craft."

She snorted. "As to your request, I say this: Not on your life."

"Oh, but my dear…" his eyes glowed with hellish power, "I've lived many lives, and have taken _so many more._ "

 _Well,_ she thought, _a fight it is then._ She pulled the blank white mask out of her cloak and placed it on her face. Immediately, her ears elongated, her bones received strength and her hair grew long and was restored to its youthful state. Reality around her form seemed to… _shift_ , and Angau could feel her power growing.

"That's more like it!" He shouted with a cheery snarl.

She pulled two swords out of seemingly nowhere, and the shift in reality grew more and more until it encompassed their surroundings, warping the plants and structures in the area.

This, this power, was the _Wyld._

"The Wyld emerges, the stage is set," he began, "and all the players are ready. Then shall we not have this dance?"

 **(Cue Baten Kaitos Origins OST -** _ **The True Mirror)**_

She made no sound as she moved toward him, but her intent as she charged was clear: _You have stepped too far._ He laughed, knowing the inevitable end to this tragedy, but then the elf dissapeared from his sight and slashed his back. He grunted in pain. _That wasn't teleportation, I would have sensed that. It just felt like, like she was always ther- AHHH, that's it!_ He nodded as he realized what she was doing. _The Fair Folk and their theatre antics. Distance doesn't matter,_ scenes and acts _matter. Got to remember that._ He did his best to block her strikes from nowhere, but then reality shifted even further than it had…

...and a new scene stood before him.

 **(End Theme, Cue Undertale OST -** _ **67: Oh My…**_ **)**

He sat on a gilded throne, a pair of nubile women in his arms. They seemed to swoon in his very presence. Beyond them, more men and women pleasured themselves and each other in increasingly terrible ways. He took in this scene before him for merely a moment… before crushing the necks of the women he held. All of the others were too distracted in their own pursuit of pleasure to notice him slowly slaughter his way through them, crushing skulls, throats and, on occasion, hearts. It took him only a small amount of time to commit such a massacre, after which he made his way to the door, before the setting changed once more, but _not_ before he saw a golden cup being melted down.

 **(End Theme)**

He stood in a maze, one he could tell was quite large. He looked around him to notice all the different paths available. He shrugged his shoulders, then in defiance of seemingly common sense, used his hands to begin digging into the earth below him. He dug, and dug, and dug, until the ground beneath him collapsed and he fell, while a vision of a ring being smashed to pieces resonated in his mind.

 **(Cue Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney OST -** _ **Examination ~ Moderate 2001**_ **)**

He now stood in what looked to be the jury room in a courthouse. Eight other people looked at him expectantly. One of them asked him: "Well, have you reached a decision?"

"A decision on what?"

"Is this man guilty or not? Have you even take a look at the evidence folder?"

He quickly thought through his options for a moment, before he smiled once more. "Yes, actually, I've come to a decision."

"Well, what is it?"

"I think… that you should put a sock in it."

And so, Angau _helped_ the man put a sock in it. _Of course, I doubt he will care if his foot's still in it, will he?_ And this he did to the man and everyone else in the room besides him. A familiar distortion happened, and a staff was broken over his knee, while he was still in transit.

 **(End Theme)**

The newest place he stood in was much more to his liking. It was a battlefield, and men on both, no, make it, all _three_ sides were dying in droves. _Man, this brings back some old memories._ So, he decided to join in on the fun. He rammed his hands into people's chest, their heads, their _other_ heads, it was such a delight for his sadistic mind.

And of course, when she tried to ambush him from behind, he grabbed her neck and threw her onto the ground. She raised her swords to defend herself, but he broke those with his bare hands. When he had done this, reality seemed to quake and suddenly, they were back at her house. Behind her lay the broken cup, ring, staff and sword. He nodded as he saw them, then pointed at the cup.

"The Trial of the Cup. The User's own pleasures are turned against them in order to distract them from their goal. Unfortunately for you, you got the _wrong sources of pleasure._ "

He then pointed to the ring. "The Trial of the Ring. The trial-giver forces their reality on the victim in order to enforce their dominance. Their world, their rules. Sadly, it doesn't work at it's finest against someone who can _really_ think outside the box."

He pointed to the staff. "The Trial of the Staff. The victim is trapped in a legal scenario that they have to maneuver around, but such maneuvering merely traps the victim more. A quick exit, however, usually does the trick."

He pointed to the sword. "Lastly, the Trial of the Sword. It is what you think it is, but sadly for you it is the area I most _excel_ at."

He finally turned to face her. "How do I know all of this, you may be wondering? How can I, an orange-haired dirty little _criminal_ , possibly understand the _beautiful subtleties_ of such an art as shaping combat?" He chuckled, and then his body expanded. If she could, she would have gasped at seeing his true form, his true identity. "Elf, I am a master of _all_ combat. There is not a method of killing I do not know. No murder made in the dark of night is safe from my watching eyes. I have learned magics your kind could never imagine solely to slaughter others in unique and _interesting_ ways. I am death, nay, I am the Marquis of Sade's ideal, I AM… actually while spoil the fun? I'm sure it's much more interesting to be killed by an enemy you don't know then one you are familiar with. It's not the fall that kills you after all," he laughed darkly, "it's the pits of hell that wish to embrace YOUR _**CORPSE!**_ "

Anna-Lisa De Luca would never see her children, or anyone really, ever again.

 _ **A few minutes afterwards…**_

The mask was bloody, but it was his. He held it in his hand, appreciating it's beauty. It was a weapon disguised as a piece of art. Though he himself couldn't use, and truly _he_ didn't need it, there was someone else he knew who could perform her role well enough with such a weapon. He laughed, and laughed, even as he ran to see his next victim's terrified face.

%\%\%\%\%\%

Thus ends the tale of Anna-Lise De Luca, but the mask's tale has only just begun.

To give an explanation for what just happened beyond Angau's quick summary, how the Fair Folk do combat in Exalted is with actions in something called "Shaping Combat", where they use various plot devices and what not as "weapons". Anyone whose "health" in such combat is reduced to nothing is forced to do something for the victor, depending on which kind of Shaping Combat it is. Losing a Cup Combat prevents the loser from experiencing a particular virtue either forever, or if the loser is particularly powerful, a number of "tales" (I'm not going to get into how non-standard the Fair Folk's mechanics are, it's just too confusing, so let's just leave it at 'a number of tales'). Losing a Ring Combat forces the loser to perform a certain, completely doable task for the victor. Losing a Staff Combat makes the loser vulnerable to the three other types of damage. And finally, losing a Sword Combat forces the loser to give something important to the victor, such as rare artifacts, wealth and even the loser's soul (if they have one.) As you can tell, this is a huge, confusing mess so I prefered to get it out of the way as soon as humanly possible.

And yes, I've finally given Merlin's backstory for all of the people who haven't read the Safehold series yet. Again, you really should, it's quite great. Yes, Merlin was once a girl named Nimue, and yes that does bring in the whole gender/sexuality paradigm to the story. As if his being a ninja robot samurai turned agent of fate wasn't enough. However, do not even begin to assume that he's a Mary Sue. He's gone through more hardship than you, your parents and even your grandparents have gone through.

Also, as you probably noticed, Angau isn't human. Far from it. His "true form" will be revealed at the very end, and I do mean the _very end_ , of the story.

I can't think of anything else to talk about, so I'll leave it at that. Thank you for reading, please let me know in the reviews what you think of the story and any questions you have, and I'll get back to you.

Signing off,

Critian Caceorte


	12. Chapter 12: A Touchy Subject, I'm Afraid

_**A/N Notes: A warning to all readers. Something… unpleasant is going to happen near the end of this chapter, so if you want, you can skip this one. There is some important plot points here though, so I suggest you weigh your options for now.**_

 _ **Deep below the Catacombs, underneath Rome/April 7th, 2010/1:34 PM**_

Sophia and Singer emerged from the shadows they had arrived in. Neither had any trouble seeing in the dark, Sophia having living in such conditions before and Singer not really needing to see. They walked for a little while, before Singer held up her hand. She called out to the darkness in front of them:

"Padre di Cranio! It is I, Singer To The Despairing Soul! I wish to talk with you once more, as friends do!"

A voice from the dark replied. "Of course, of course! Come, Singer, the dead always welcome their fellows! But who is this living woman you have brought with you?"

"This is Sophia. I believe I told you about her?"

"Oh yes, I apologize Lady Sophia. Those living in the dark are just as welcome as the dead in these catacombs!"

Sophia giggled before she curtsied. "Thank you, my lord. I've just come to help serve as transportation for Singer."

"Of course, I understand, though you are always welcome to join us in our talks. Come on now! The parlor is just ahead."

The two walked in the darkness, lead by the man they had quite a difficult time seeing. Eventually, though, the man clapped his hands and torches all around became alight with blue flame. Having the proper amount of light to really see details, Sophia looked toward this 'Padre di Cranio'. He was a skeleton wearing old robes weaved out a material she could not recognize, though it was very thin. _Is that spider silk? That must have taken quite a while to collect and weave._

He lead them to a small wooden table and some old, creaky chairs. He gestured for them to sit down. "I apologize for the lack of comforts, but we cannot get new things to decorate the place."

Sophia looked at him, her eyes brightening. "Ooh, I know! I can always transport some new stuff to your guy's place."

"Oh, my lady, you do not have to do that."

"Nonsense, it's no good if you are guys are just stuck down here with nothing to do! There are plenty of things on the surface that I can bring down for you guys to use!"

"No, my lady, that would just be a wasted effort. Especially after tomorrow."

Singer looked at him sharply. "What's happening tomorrow?"

If a skeleton could grin beyond what he was already capable of, Padre di Cranio would have been doing that at this moment. "I bring you and all of our undead brethren good tidings, for tomorrow our savior shall be born."

Sophia frowned in thought. "Did you steal that from something..?"

"Yes, from the Christian Bible. I thought the reference might catch your attention. But yes, Woe, Avenger of the Desecrated Graves, shall be born tomorrow eve."

If Singer had eyes to widen, she would have done so. "Wait, that man you always prophesy 'will come soon'? You finally have a definitive date?"

"Yes indeed, and our brethren are already rejoicing. That's why we are all alone, actually."

Sophia asked the obvious question. "Um, who is this 'Woe' guy?"

"Oh, yes, you've never heard of the prophecy my lady. I shall fix that posthaste. Have you heard of our predicament."

"Well, Singer told me you guys were trapped down here somehow."

The skeleton nodded. "Indeed. I will not explain the full backstory, that would take away too much precious time, but yes, we are cursed to remain down here. The only way to break the curse is to have 'a Son of Rome, born in undeath from a nightly battle,' command us. Due to the necromancy used to raise our corpses, we cannot just leave here of our own volition, or the volition of living beings. For the longest amount of time, I and the rest of elders could only see that he would 'come soon' to us, but we didn't have a definitive time frame until today. But now, our lord will save us from this awful curse, that we might love and enjoy the surface once more!"

"But, um, what about the humans?"

Singer, hearing this, immediately made the 'Do not proceed' sign with her arms, but Padre di Cranio merely put a hand on her shoulder.

"That is an issue that must be addressed, I'm afraid. In truth, I do not bear much ill will towards the living, it was not their actions that condemned us. But if our Lord commands that we must rise up with acts of force, then we simply must obey. We cannot afford to disobey our messiah, and ruin our chance of being free. Which leads me to another point."

He turned to Singer. "Singer, I must tell you this now. When Woe comes to free us, I will try with all my power to convince our lord that you and your organization would be great allies. However, if he still refuses… I am afraid that we would be on opposite sides of the battlefield."

Singer smiled in sympathy. "Do not worry, Padre, I and my lord understand. Still, we would wish that he could join us in our own little crusade."

"Ah yes, your master. Are you sure he is a living being. For being made out of metal, that phrase seems… off."

"Yes, I am sure, though I will admit that his essence is a little strange. It is not like most human beings. I'm not actually sure if he's human or just pretending to be one. All I can say is that he is most assuredly committed to our goals."

"Very well then, I believe you. Now, I'm afraid that I simply must be off to prepare my rituals. This event demands a formal ceremony, after all."

He made to leave, but Singer put a hand on his shoulder and whispered to him. "I still have one last question. Is Woe… still alive right now? Will he die tomorrow?"

He looked at her, then slowly nodded. "Yes. There will be a great tragedy tomorrow, and I'm afraid our lord will be at the center of it all. I suggest you prepare your defenses, I'm not fully sure what specifically will happen, but I do know it will be terrible."

She nodded back glumly, then looked to Sophia. "It's best that we go now. We have a lot of things to prepare for." Sophia nodded, then grabbed her hand and the two melted into the shadows…

The undead priest looked on as they disappeared, then walked into another room. Several Thousand Skeletons looked back at him. He raised his hands, and shouted to the crowd: "My people! Lord Woe comes tomorrow eve! We must chant praises to his holy name! For he is our salvation, he is one of us, he _is us!"_

The crowd repeated the chant, their dread voices shaking the foundations of the crypt.

"Woe _is_ us, Woe _is_ us, Woe _is_ us, Woe _is_ us…"

That day, the italian government reported what seemed to be a small earthquake, centered underneath Rome. It was very small, and so, no one cared.

 _ **Merlin's dojo/3:56 PM**_

Baldur had gotten dressed in his workout clothes and had jogged the way to the dojo. He was quite excited to be able to learn some of the stuff he saw in movies. Of course, he knew that some of the more 'mystical techniques' were impossible, but that didn't stop his excitement. He reached the door to the dojo, checked his watch to see that it was just about the appointed time, and walked in.

It was a very simple place. The walls were left white, though with the occasional wall buffer to soften the blow of whoever crashed into them. The floor was padded to also reduce the injuries caused by such lessons. In the center of the room was a boxing ring with gold, silver and bronze ropes (the color was just from the paint of course); slightly rare but not that unusual to see. He saw hooks on the back wall for gloves, equipment and presumably also clothes as well. He could also see locker rooms in the back. But that wasn't what caught his attention.

What caught his attention was seeing a strange man in a leather duster, tricorne hat and glowing red eyes standing in the middle of the room. Baldur was taken aback, wondering who this could be.

"Who are you?"

The man thought, then raised his pointer finger as he went _ooh…_ "That's right, you've never met me in this state, have you? Well," his appearance changed into Merlin's, "does this form seem familiar to you?"

Now Baldur recognized him. "YOU!"

Merlin smirked as he replied: "Me!"

"So wait, you have powers as well?"

"Yes, sort of like Mr. Cain's and Ms. Burlington's, but different in it's own unique way. Although, for this lesson," he switched back to his Mab state, "this form will be the one I require."

Cue Maria walking into the dojo. She too took in the sight of it, before becoming astonished at the presence of Mab. "YOU!"

"Me!"

"What are you doing here?"

"Because I _am_ Merlin. Have been for the past few years. And we are still awaiting one more person…"

Natalie walked in and saw Mab standing in the middle of the room. "Oh, right, it's you-"

Mab interrupted her. "Me!"

"Excuse me?"

"Sorry, I've just been reading a great book series and I wanted to finish the joke. In any case, hello, my future students. My name, outside of this form at least, is Sensei Merlin Arthrawes. Fun fact, 'Arthrawes' is Welsh for 'Teacher', which is quite appropriate for this moment. I will be teaching the three of you in the days to come how to properly throw punches, kicks and other physical blows before we move onto the complicated maneuvers. But first, an object lesson."

"The three of you are going to take turns punching me. Don't worry," he quickly added as he saw their faces, "I've dealt with far worse. As you hit me, I am going to critique you on how well you did and how you can improve. Often times, the answer will just be: 'Do more push-ups each morning', 'Do more lunges', and so on. Other times, however, I will be showing you the proper technique and let you practice until you have it worked out."

"Now Baldur, here, is going to be doing something a little more advanced." Baldur looked at him critically. "Normally, we do a one-hour lesson each Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday at 4 PM. _He_ is going to be doing a _three_ -hour lesson starting at the same time and ending at seven."

Now Baldur looked at him in shock. Mab just grinned and smacked his fist into his palm. "This is going to be fun, fun, fun…" Baldur gulped as he comprehended his now guaranteed doom.

 _ **An Hour Later…**_

The three of them were sweaty and tired after practising with Mab. It was one thing to throw a punch. It was another to learn how to throw a _proper_ one, and dozens of times at that. Mab, or Merlin now (he had switched back at the end of it) knew they probably couldn't hold a pen for the next few days. Which suited him just fine.

Maria and Natalie walked out the door, while Baldur stayed inside per Merlin's orders. Merlin looked at him for a moment and said: "You and I are going to spar. You seem to have a natural talent for this sort of thing, so we are going to practice. Afterwards, some meditation is in order. Join me in the ring." Then he _leaped_ the rest of the way into the ring. Baldur's heart sank further at this superhuman spectacle.

 _Well, crap._

 _ **The Streets near the Hotel/A Few Minutes Later…**_

Natalie and Maria had separated since Maria needed to buy food for Dinner. So, Natalie walked alone down the streets. There was definitely still light in the sky, so that wasn't a problem, but the sunset left creepy shadows in it's wake. As she walked along, she heard the sound of something hard fall onto the ground. She noticed a man had dropped something on the ground, the rest of his arms full of bags containing groceries.

"Um, excuse me miss? Can you grab that thing for me?" To her surprise, he spoke in English. She nodded back to him.

"Of course!"

She picked up the white round object. It looked to be a mask of some sort, albeit one without detail. She picked it up, but the man said: "Actually, I'm not sure that I can carry that home. If you want, you can have it." There was something about him that raised an alarm, but she didn't know what.

 **(Cue Undertale OST -** _ **You Idiot**_ **)**

"Oh, no, I couldn't take this, it's yours!"

"Actually," the man began. He dropped his bags, took the mask and slammed it on her face. "I must insist," said Angau.

Before she blacked out, she finally realized what had been bothering her:

The man had shown no fear to her presence whatsoever.

 _ **Somewhere else/Sometime later…**_

She woke up. She tried to move, but her body wouldn't respond. She watched as the man before her as he noticed she was awake. He grinned a terrible grin as he saw her predicament.

"Noticed you can't move, Lassie?" He spoke in a vaguely scottish accent. "Well, that's a problem. I wonder why that is. Oh wait, I do know!" He pulled two small figurines out of his pocket: A heart and a sword. He pointed to the sword. "Your new Sword Grace. I own it. That's all you need to know about it. And this," he pointed to the heart, "Your Heart Grace. With it, I own _you_. You are my servant. I decide when you harm and when you don't. You will kill people in my name. You will kill people in my _employer's_ name. But most important of all, you will _kill people_. You will slaughter them in droves. You will burn down their homes. You will torture anyone they love, and _you will keep doing it until it becomes the only way that you can find pleasure._ You will become just like me, a guy who kills and kills and keeps doing so because _it's fun. Because it feels_ so _good._ That is your new life." He chuckled darkly. "I suggest you get used to it. And your new form, I should mention."

She looked down, and indeed her form had been changed. She was wearing a green and gold silk dress that was both free-flowing and yet scandalously short at the same time. Her hands, normally much abused due to her career, were now soft, yet tough, and the nails were painted a dark purple. She was wearing shoes that looked like the kind you saw on elves in those Keebler commercials. Her hair, normally in some form of ponytail or braid, flowed down her face. Her body had changed as well. Her breasts were much larger and fuller and her legs were longer (It was easy to see in the dress she was wearing). When she touched her face, all that she could feel was something akin to lacquered wood. But what hit her the most was how… empty she felt. She often felt more 'empty' than the usual human being, and until this morning had no idea what that meant. But this was worse. Before, her emotions were subdued, but they still existed. Now, she felt… nothing. She was probably in one of the worst situations a person could be put in, and yet she felt nothing. The man in front of her just kept on laughing, before pulling her face close to his.

"Listen, b %&$, I _own_ you now. You disobey me," his hand seemed to morph and shift before a spearhead emerged from his wrist," and this goes there," he pointed to her heart, then pointed to his crotch, "and this," he pointed to her mouth and eyes, "goes there. You understand me? DO YOU?"

She hurriedly nodded, and he laughed. "That's right. Remember it. You're not human any more. You don't have a soul. You're a puppet, one for the real people of this world to use as they will. I will use you until I use you up, and then you'll be sent to junk heap, along with the rest of the _trash_. Now, I have a job for you tomorrow, so I suggest," he smacked her upside the head with enough force to knock her unconscious, "you go to sleep."

 _ **Back at the Dojo/5:38 PM**_

For some reason, Merlin had an ominous feeling, so he wasn't paying attention enough when Baldur finally managed to punch him in the face. His celebrating came almost immediately after.

"YES! I DID IT! TAKE THAT, OLD MAN!"

Merlin shook off the ominous feeling and gave Baldur a small smile. "Well done, you took advantage of my distraction. Now, I think that's enough sparring. It's time for meditation." The two of them got out of the ring and sat down on the mat. Merlin entered a lotus pose and Baldur tried to do the same, however he, along with many people trying out meditation for the first time, discovered the uncomfortable truth:

Unless you spend years working at it, the Lotus pose is _really_ comfortable to maintain.

Baldur kept on fidgeting, the pose making his legs sore and constantly hurt. _How do those guys in India_ do _this? This is the most terrible thing I have experienced!_ Merlin secretly smirked at Baldur's discomfort. _Programmable muscle memory. You gotta love it._ "Now, Baldur, I want you to picture something in your mind's eye. Picture a well. A dry well. In order to get the water you need, you're going to have to dig. Picture a shovel in your hand, and in your head try to dig. Dig and dig until the water sprouts up once more."

Baldur did so. He picture him, at the bottom of the well. He pictured the shovel in his hand, ready to go. He began to dig. He kept on digging, and something began to come out, but it wasn't water. It was bones. Old bones. Giant ones, like you see in a dinosaur skeleton. Excited, he kept on digging more and more. And as he did so, Merlin opened his eyes. They soon widened in shock. Baldur was still meditating, but he was radiating a black aura. In Baldur's mind he kept on digging, excited at all the bones he had found, and in reality the black aura grew bigger and more substantial. As it did so, it cloaked Baldur in it's great darkness. Panicking, Merlin called out to him.

"BALDUR! ENOUGH!"

Baldur's eyes opened immediately in surprise, and the aura dissapeared the moment his concentration slipped. "What?"

"Um, I think that's enough time spent meditating. Let's get back to sparring."

Baldur became exasperated. "Again?! I still haven't recovered from the practice with the girls!"

"Just do it, we're on a time crunch here."

"What do you mean? I'm here for another hour or so."

"That's not what I meant. I have an ominous feeling about tomorrow. I don't think we're going to have a lot of the time we need in order to train."

 _ **Somewhere else/Some time later…**_

Angau walked into the interior of the base. His employer noticed his presence.

"Have you eliminated one of the team members yet?"

Angau laughed harshly. "Better." He beckoned to the darkness behind him. From that emerged a woman in a green and gold dress, with loose hair and long, elf ears. Covering her face was a white mask. Angau looked back at the employer. "I know she looks different, but doesn't she seem… familiar?"

The man shook his head, but a dark shadow emerged from behind him and surrounded the woman, who didn't seem to respond to even that. He eventually fell away her and merged back into the man's shadow.

" _ **I don't know where you got that mask. But I'm not going to question your actions. She's the one without a soul isn't she. You used the mask to transform her into one of the Fair Folk."**_

"Yep, and I have possesion of her Sword Grace and her Heart Grace."

" _ **What about the other three?"**_

"I wanted her to get her assignments to get done, so I let her keep the Staff Grace. And I want her to keep the Ring and Cup Graces, because well," a malicious smile appeared on his face, "how else could she suffer?"

" _ **I'm sure Malfeas would love someone like you. Anything else you have for us?"**_

"I don't think-" he stopped speaking as he sensed something. A frown appeared on his face, and he seemed to concentrate on the ground below him. His face then turned to one of shock. " #%&."

"What is it?" Said his employer.

Angau didn't reply. Instead, he began to furiously dig into the ground, despite the concrete barring the way. Somehow, though, his hands powered through the rock and stone. The boss was confused, and was about to speak, but the shadow hushed him. Angau spent what seemed like an hour digging away. But eventually he stopped, and then leaped out. In his hand was what seemed to be a metal box, slowly building itself into completion. He pointed to it, the fury on his face obvious.

"That," he said in a growl, "is a _nuke_."

"WHAT?!"

" _ **Wow, that actually caught me by surprise. How did you sense it when we couldn't?"**_

"I have an… affinity for weapons. So when something is designed to kill _a lot_ of people, it's pretty easy for me to sense. Still, how did this get get so far down below your base? I can tell you now, it wasn't because of some sort of tunnel."

"The Metal Man. Apparently we have underestimated him once more, though how he got access to radioactive isotopes is beyond me."

" _ **He probably used his powers to bring them to him."**_

"True, but what are we going to do about it?"

"How does any gang try and stop another?"

The man and the shadow looked at Angau. "A turf war?"

"Close, but not quite. Intimidation. It's how anything on the streets gets done. It's why minions obey their bosses until their bosses seem weak. You just have to make them afraid. Demonstrate your power. Summon more of those things you summoned the other day, but in a bunch of place at once. Have your men perform more overt actions. Anything that causes fear, helps."

" _ **For once, a good plan. I like it. And we don't have to tell the people who we are, they will just assume that Rome is being invaded by aliens again."**_

The boss cringed at the mention of aliens. Angau took notice of this. _Is he scared of those Rajita-things that invaded the earth all that time ago?_ The shadow was watching this as well. **Boy, improve your control on your emotions. Or else, I might just have to ditch you for someone else. I can't have my servants be manipulated instead of doing the manipulating.**

 _ **Back at the Hotel/8:45 PM**_

Lily was panicking. Natalie had gone missing, and no one knew where she had went. Merlin was too busy teaching Baldur to watch her leave. Maria had gone a separate way in order to buy groceries. And Joseph had looked for a while, but couldn't find her. _What am I supposed to do without Natalie? She was my camera-woman, my partner, my friend… Without her, even with these new people…_

 _I'm alone._

She kept pacing around the room, looking at a map of the surrounding area, wondering where Natalie could have gone. _She couldn't have abandoned me. This is her career at stake. Plus, she would be trapped in a foreign country. It's a stupid decision to leave me here… isn't it?_

This thought made her pause. _Wait, I'm acting like how I was with the card. Then, there's no reason why I should be feeling this way, right? It's all just smoke and mirrors, plus brainwashing. She's not that important to me…_

 _...isn't she?_

There she was, trapped between admittance and denial, between need and self-preservation. What could she do? _Wait._ She thought for a while, before admitting, _This_ is _an emergency…_ She grabbed her purse and pulled out something she never had wanted to use again, until now. The card. The Exaltation. _It_ could help her here. Breathing deeply, she raised the card above her head, anime style, and began the chant she had only used once before on instinct.

 **(Cue Super Smash Bros for Wii U OST -** _ **The Valedictory Elegy**_ **)**

" _The Moon Changes! Time Passes! All shall transform in the journey for a better tomorrow! Power of the Moon!_ _ **EXALT!**_ "

The familiar silver light embraced her and she felt herself grow more confident, more determined. The silver tattoos now on her body began to glow pure white. With a determined look, she ran and jumped out of the open window, shapeshifting in midair into a hawk. _My name is Silber, the silver moon. My friend is lost, my chick is gone. I am the hawk, the eagle, the one who rides on harsh winds. Idiots, Villains, Scum, do you really think you are safe from my searching eye?_

That night, the moon shined down it's approval.

%\%\%\%\%\%

Thus, Silber is truly born.

Thankfully for Natalie, her friend decided to man up (woman up?) and go look for her. Fun Fact of the Day: As a Changing Moon Caste Lunar, it is her job to sneak, search and slay, all in one fun package! Boy, I'm sure the bad guys will be glad to hear this?

In all seriousness, however, I apologize if the scene with Natalie and Angau brought back some bad memories for people. However, this is what stories are for: They are a catharsis, a way of _dealing_ with these terrible memories and emotions. Though, even I feel bad for Natalie upon rereading this. And I'm the guy who knows that in the end she will come out ahead! Spoiler Alert, I guess, but honestly, even I'm not that kind of person to just pile tragedy after tragedy on a character. Now for the _other_ characters… He he he he he he…

In brighter news (well, technically darker) the undead guys are going to be free of their curse soon… yay? I know that I'm only just now bringing the undead (who's backstory will be expanded upon, oh, I'd estimate by about Chapter 20 or so, as a safe estimate) but they lead to a transition for a new character: Woe, Avenger of the Desecrated Graves a.k.a. Mr. Abyssal Exalt! I know I shouldn't just have 'one character per exaltation' but- wait, I don't have just one, I have both Sansion and Dialydd Mab as Sidereals! Ha, in your face, um, internet, I guess? In any case, Rome is about to experience two terrible things tomorrow: The greatest incursion it's had so far, and the Skeleton Union going on strike. I still think the Skeleton Strike is going to be the greater of the two evils (though, the incursion _might_ create more skele- wait, I'm the author, I _know_ it's not going to create more Undead besides Woe).

As you can tell, for this chapter's author's notes, the theme is "Can't Make Up Your Mind"!

Oh, and the Metal Man's plot was foiled as well. Too bad. In the real world that plan would have been ingenious, but this is Anime Land, and as such, anime tropes apply. So, we can't have the villains defeated until all the heroes assemble! (Yay.)

Also, just to make sure I got everything, yes, I know 'The Valedictory Elegy' is originally from Baten Kaitos Origins, I just like the Smash Bros version better. Not that people have been complaining about that sort of thing, this is just to _prevent_ the complaints.

I think that covers just about everything, so, thank you for your reviews, keep them coming, please continue to keep up with the series, and I will wish you all a good night!

Fare thee well,

Critian Caceorte


	13. Chapter 13: Anima Banner! Unleashed!

_**A/N Notes: I had this chapter all uploaded, but then took it down a minute or two later as I saw a few glaring errors I needed fix. Sorry for the inconvenience.**_

 _ **The Dojo/April 8th, 2010/7:12 AM**_

Merlin was ashamed. He had failed to protect one of his new friends, one of his students. _Why? Why did I let this happen? Now a British citizen is lost in Italy, with almost no knowledge of their language, and her best friend is growing desperate! I don't want another person close to me to die…_

 _Kau-yung, Shan-wei… King Haarahld, all those victims of the Rakurai attacks… And now Natalie. I've doomed so many in my quests… Why bother trying? Why bother risking so many lives in an attempt to 'restore peace and rationality'. Why bother trying to teach kids how to defend themselves if they're going to be kidnapped anyways? Why bother-_

"Mr. Arthrawes?"

He looked up, distracted from his self-loathing by the arrival of Maria and Davimon. He nodded to them in response. "Hello, Maria. Davimon."

"You feel guilty, don't you?"

"Yes, yes I do."

"I… feel the same."

"Why? You weren't the one who abandoned her to her fate."

"YES! Yes I was! I was the last person to see her, I didn't have to buy groceries, I could have gotten them later. I could have helped her escape whoever was the one who captured! Instead, I left her to the wolves. I'm the one who should be angry with myself, not you!"

"But you yourself don't have any powers. You wouldn't be able to protect that well against a really determined man. I _could_. I could have protected her… just like I could have protected the others…" He was about to return to his catatonic state, but then his book glowed and opened, and a hastily scribbled note popped out. Merlin paused when he saw it pop out, then read it to himself. He widened his eyes at what he saw, so Davimon ran over to see what it read. What he saw made him start to chuckle, if but a little.

 _Dear Merlin,_

 _I am normally a man of a serene demeanor. This moment seems to be turning into the exception. Get off your rear end, man, and_ do _something to find her! Lily has been flying above the city as Silber the entire_ night! _Meanwhile, you've been sitting there all night, moaning about your failures. You should be ashamed of yourself! Here's this woman, who, after just experiencing the loss of a good friend, is sacrificing her bodily needs in order to bring her back. Meanwhile, you, the immortal android who has_ no _bodily needs is doing_ nothing! _So get off your sorry butt, or I swear in your first audit I will file a Severity 5 offence against you! I do not joke about these things, Merlin!_

 _Your "Lovable" Mentor,_

 _Sansion the Savant_

Merlin was stunned for a moment by how angry Sansion sounded in his note, but he guessed it was because while Sansion was a man of subtlety, that didn't mean he liked doing nothing. _I guess that everyone has a hidden side to them._ With a now determined look on his face, he got up, pulled out his card, and began to chant, but this one was different from all the other times.

" _The time for vengeance has come! Let blade and bullet not stop the march for a better tomorrow! Resplendent Destiny, the Avenging Son! Anima Release! Perfection of Battle!_ _ **EXALT!"**_

He transformed into Dialydd Mab, but all traces of love and kindness were gone from his face. The symbol of Mars shone on his forehead and a large red aura covered his entire body like a second coat. He pulled out his twin pistols, now glowing with a holy power. He nodded to Maria, who turned and nodded to Davimon. She pulled out her D-Ark and slashed a card through it.

" _ **Card Slash! Evolution!"**_

"Davimon… _**Shinka!"**_

The familiar digivolution occurred, and Samsomon now stood in Davimon's place. He roared a battle cry as the loss of a friend filled him with anger. Mab nodded, then ran out of the front door with the other two following behind him. He jumped onto the top of the building, then motioned for them to go into the alleys.

"Search the surrounding area! No more shall we cry over the loss of a friend." He ran and jumped across the rooftops. _Vengeance. It is a familiar path that I walk. May my enemies hope that the path is short._

 _ **Somewhere else…**_

" _ **I don't think Angau's realized the genius of this situation."**_

"Why's that?"

" _ **Because of the loss of their friend, their negative emotions are running full steam ahead. Which makes the actual summoning easier than if they had been perfectly fine. Oh, I love how the irony of this situation tastes. It's almost like the perfect betrayal. Uggh…"**_

"Are you getting sexual pleasure from this?"

" _ **What? Who are you to judge me?"**_

"I'm not trying to judge, I just can't… wrap my head around it. In fact, I think I'm going to the restroom now. And I might need a janitor to come along afterwards to clean up the puke."

" _ **Hey! I'll have you now that Sadism is a perfectly acceptable kink to have in this society!"**_

"And what about safe, sane and _consensual_?"

" _ **But that ruins all the fun!"**_

"*Sigh*, I'm a sane man in an insane world, whatever could be wrong with me..?"

 _ **The Crypt/8:13 AM**_

The Chanting continued. It always continued on, from the moment it had been begun. "Woe _is_ us, Woe _is_ us, Woe _is_ us, Woe _is_ us…" It never stopped, it never ended, and it would continue until their lord had come to save them.

 _ **The Skies over Rome/8:17 AM**_

It began. The sky turned a familiar shade of orange and green. Storm clouds gathered, and lightning began to strike. And yet, the government did nothing. No police were alerted that whatever happened before was going to happen again. No military was gathered in preparation. It was as if the people had been… tamed. Like a large group of cattle, they did _nothing_.

Nothing, except for the actions of a few.

 _ **The Metal Man's Lair/That moment.**_

" _Alert all group members! An Incursion is imminent, I repeat, an Incursion is imminent!"_ The voice of the Metal Man blared from the speaker's inside the facility. Gang members armed themselves with whatever weapons they had. Medical Personnel owned by the group gathered their supplies together in field kits. Stephen put his deck together along with Anthony, who's self confident smile was still on his face. Sophia was already out and about, alerting some of the nearby people what was going to happen. It discouraged her that the people seemed unfazed by all of this. _Something's going on here. This isn't normal!_ Singer saddled her steed, a large undead steed with black obsidian where it's eyes should be, then got on it. She whispered to it softly.

"Are you ready to ride once more, Noble Mane?"

" _My lady, I said once before to you, and so shall I say now, I shall follow you wherever you desire. For your new friends, for our old friends and loved ones… for our home. Let us charge into the approaching death, inviting it's hatred because of our lack of life!"_

"Heh, still as confident as always."

Meanwhile the Metal Man meditated, viewing the storm through the satellite imagery he had access to. It troubled him how this storm was larger than the last one. _Are they going to summon multiple creatures at once? Why would they want to commit their resources all at once?_ Next, he checked the security camera footage throughout the city. He didn't see much, which made him even more worried. _The criminal underworld has gone silent. That can mean only one thing: They're coordinating. I have to stop this somehow._

Using his powers he sent various materials silently flying through the sky, into the building he knew housed his enemies operations. He could sense the nuclear bomb anymore, which means they must have discovered it. _And it was such a good plan too. Well, it seems we can't just go with the easy option this time._ Once inside, the materials formed together to create a digital camera, which sent him footage of what it saw inside the base. _I don't know why he doesn't use cameras in his operation, but for whatever the reason they're an annoyance for me._ Just when the camera was approaching their operations room, the footage cut off. His annoyance grew. _Do they have some form of magic to destroy cameras? I guess it would explain what's going on with the media._

He opened his eyes, then with a wave of his hand a duel disk fell onto his lap. He took a look at the cards inside, stopping at one in particular, then placed them back and put the disk inside of a locked chest. _There will come a time for that. But not now._ He walked down to check on his servant's progress personally.

 _ **Giacomo's Apartment/8:50 AM**_

He noticed the storm clouds gathering above him. _If whoever's doing this thinks that this area is easy pickings, he's got another thing coming._

" _Ready?"_

 _Yeah. Time to put an end to this._

" _I doubt this will be the last attack. In fact, it's probably just the beginning."_

 _I know, but wishful thinking is probably what we need right now._

Looking at the sky, he pulled out his card. A familiar tune entered his mind.

 **(Cue Maxine Nightingale -** _ **Right back to where we started from**_ **)**

He tapped his foot to an invisible beat, his cocky grin growing ever wider as he raised his card to the sky. He sang a song as he pulled out a knife.

"Ooh and it's alright and it's coming 'long, We got to get right back to where we started from..."

" _Are you seriously seeing a pop song when a battle is about to begin?"_

"Love is good, love can be strong-"

" _Sigh, never mind."_

 _ **The Rooftops/8:55 AM**_

Silber watched the skies.

 _It's happening._

 _ **The Streets…**_

Barri's duel disk was out, ready to stop the incoming horde. _I don't know when their coming, but they're about to see someone go all out! I'm ready for you bastards!_

Baldur saw his sister's determined look, and sighed internally. _I don't think she realizes how useless all of this makes me. I want to be able to do something._

 _I want to help._

 _ **The Skies above…**_

It happened. Reality cracked, and scores of abominations fell out. The Incursion was beginning.

 _ **The Hotel…**_

Joseph saw the monsters, and that's when he made his move. _I'm going to have to use everything to stop these monsters from killing these innocents._ He raised his golden card, and chanted something just a bit different, sort of like Mab's chant.

" _Red skies in the morning, enemies take warning! This is the beginning of our story, and the ending of your reign! A better tomorrow is just on the horizon! Anima Release! Perfection of the Sun!_ _ **EXALT!"**_

 **(Cue Undertale OST -** _ **Battle Against a True Hero**_ **)**

Sol's armor encased him, except for the helmet, which landed in his hands as his hair and beard turned as gold as the sun in the morning. A glowing caste mark appeared on his forehead. Dawn Caste. The Champions of a new day. His sword plunged itself into the ground and began to glow bright yellow. Suddenly, the caste mark began to glow brighter and brighter until a golden aura emanated from his shoulders, forming a waving cape of Essence. He opened his eyes to survey the battlefield before him. Nodding as he saw the difficulty of the task before him, he put on his helmet, pulled out his blade and jumped off the rooftop into the battle below, his anima cape expanding against the force of the wind. He charged towards the nearest creature in front of him, little bigger than a horse and sliced it into two halves.

The rest of the creatures now noticed his presence, and seemed to move away from him in fear. He kept on moving, slicing into his now retreating foes, and cried out:

"People of Rome! These creatures are not invincible beings! Far from it! Put away your fear, and make your own destiny! Your champion, and your fellow man, await!"

Then, something magical happened. The people heard his voice… and straightaway the fear left their face. Their expressions hardened, man, woman, and child; and immediately they gathered whatever they could use to defend themselves and followed this champion of the people into the rest of the monster horde.

 _ **The Rooftops/9:15 AM**_

Mab heard this commotion as he was heading toward the hotel, and saw the army of people Sol seemed to be leading. Getting into the spirit, he jumped down in front of the crowd. As he did, his aura expanded and enveloped the nearby people. The monsters soon found that this power was difficult to cut through. It's hard to kill people if your claws can't hurt them. Combined with Sol's imposing aura, the monster fled the streets before them.

They soon noticed, however, another figure standing before them. This figure was a bearded man wearing a brown suit, carried a duel disk and whose eyes glowed blue with power. He smiled as he saw the monsters coming along, then put three cards into play.

 _ **Instrument of Battle Electric Guitar**_

 _ **WIND/Fairy/Tuner**_

 _ **LVL/4 ATK/1000 DEF/1000**_

 _ **Instrument of Battle Vocals**_

 _ **WIND/Fairy/Tuner**_

 _ **LVL/4 ATK/1000 DEF/1000**_

 _ **Instrument of Battle Synthesizer**_

 _ **WIND/Machine/Tuner**_

 _ **LVL/4 ATK/0 DEF/0**_

The man raised his hand and shouted out: "I tune my Level 4 Instrument of Battle Synthesizer with Instrument of Battle Electric Guitar and Instrument of Battle Vocals!"

 **(Cue Sonic Adventure OST -** _ **Open Your Heart**_ **)**

Instantly, two of the three monsters turned into green rings which arranged themselves around the third one. It then dissolved into orbs of light which align themselves within the formation's four directions.

 _ **Tuning: 4 (Electric Guitar)+ 4 (Vocals)+ 4 (Synthesizer)= Lv.12**_

" _Shifting Seas and Crashing Thunder synchronize together to form: THE SYMPHONY OF THE STORM! Thunder, Rain, and Lightning… I Synchro Summon_ _ **Symphonic Battler Crush '98!"**_

Immediately, a boom of thunder was heard as rain came crashing down from the sky. The street began to fill with what seemed to be quite the large puddle, until the puddle suddenly stood up. Out of the rising mass of water came sections of armor, with a helmet at the very top.

 _ **Symphonic Battler Crush '98**_

 _ **WATER/Warrior/Synchro/Effect**_

 _ **LVL/12 ATK/1000 DEF/2000**_

"Crush '98 now attacks one of these creatures, and in doing so I activate it's effect!"

The towering mass of liquid began to rise even higher, before falling limply down onto one of the monsters. The monster was unhurt, but the size of the puddle seemed to increase beyond it's original borders.

"This is Crush '98's effect! Whenever it attacks a monster I can negate the attack and place a tide counter on it. For every tide counter it has, it increases it's attack points by 300 and reduces the attack points of all monsters on my opponent's side of the field by 100 each."

 _ **Crush '98 Atk 1300 (1000+300)**_

"Then, there is the second part of Crush's effect, because the small increase is simply not enough. It can attack every monster in a battle phase and I can activate it's effect for each attack! Now, Crush '98! Swallow the enemy with _**Raging Soul Tsunami!"**_

Thus did Crush '98 keep on attacking, growing larger and larger and with it's enemies growing weaker and weaker. Then, it moved from weakening them to destroying them outright. By the end of it, there simply were no enemies left in the immediate area and Crush '98 had become a veritable giant.

 _ **Tide Counters: 10 (CAP)**_

 _ **Final Attack: 4000 (1000+300*10)**_

Sol and Mab saw this and were stunned. Sol called out to the man. "Ho there! Who are you, and how is it that you can make your's illusion's attacks physical?"

"To answer the second, I have a special power. One of the aspects of that power is making these monster's attacks physical, but I can assure you it is not the same power that girl Barri uses."

"So you know the psychic duelist?"

"We met together once."

"Are you our ally then?"

"More of the case of 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend.' The man who is summoning these things runs a gang, and I'm part of a rival gang. The last one, I'm afraid. So while in this case I am helping you guys out, we might become enemies someday."

Sol nodded. "Very well then. I do not know your motivations, but I will accept your help for now."

"Thank you, knight. I will use Crush '98 to take out the majority of the weaker ones, I'm afraid the strongest ones however are still yours."

Sol and Mab nodded, then Mab pointed to a scuffle that was occuring a few blocks away. Sol looked to where Mab was pointing. "Maria and Samsomon are over there," Mab said.

"Then let us not abandon our allies in such a time of need. Soldiers, to me!" He led the charge once more towards two of their friends.

 _ **Just a few blocks away.../9:23 AM**_

Samsomon was going to town on these little minions. With nothing to match his strength, however, he was growing angry. Which just increased his strength further. He grabbed the wings of one of them and spun it around like a weapon. " _ **Tail…**_ uh, _**Wing Twist!**_ Yeah, that." He then threw it into the monster masses.

Maria was doing her best to hide from the monsters, knowing that if got into the fight she would have just gotten in the way of the others. Still, she was just a bit jealous she couldn't do anything important to help her friends. Or Samsomon, even. _I really should have picked up those Digimon cards I saw at the shop the other day. Maybe with the D-Ark they could have helped._

However, over Samsomon's roars she heard another sound approaching. It sounded like an army marching. She moved, slowly, out of her hiding place, and saw Sol and Mab leading what looked like an army of people towards the monsters. The monsters ran, presumably due to the large number of people, and Samsomon soon found himself without enemies. This confused him for a bit, and he said out loud: "Hey, where did the monsters go?"

Sol replied swiftly. "I am a Dawn Caste Solar. One of my powers, an 'anima banner', causes fear in my enemies' hearts, though it does drain away my energy. That is partly why they are running, but also because," he looked at the crowd behind him, "the large number of volunteers we've accumalated."

Maria gasped as she took a good look at how many people were following them. "That's like, a hundred people almost."

"Over, actually," said Mab. "Solar Exalts are very good at inspiring people. It's in their job description, really."

"But still, that's… wow. Are they that determined to fight?"

"Think for a moment, Maria. These people are at risk of losing their family and their homes. They have things they wish to protect, as do we all. I think they are perfectly willing to fight for what they believe in."

"Well said," replied Sol, "and we shall lead them to glorious victory! We shall not fail!" The people cried their affirmation.

Maria and Samsomon nodded, and so they joined this slowly growing army of people, organized to defend the home they loved so much.

 _ **Outside the Twin's apartment/9:37 AM**_

Barri stood outside their apartment complex, Assassin and Sentinels of the Inquisition guarding the front doors while Crowe and Layden fought against the abominable horde. Layden, despite his powerful effects, wasn't doing well, so she made a split second decision. Knowing that Assassin had taint counters on him (due to all the fighting), she made her move.

"I activate the effect of the Inquisitor Cycle! I swap out Assassin of the Inquisition for _**Holt, the Commissar-Inquisitor!"**_

Straightaway, the Assassin had his brains blown out by a man in military uniform, carrying both a bolt pistol and a cavalier's saber and wearing the trademark Commissar hat, which helped to cover the horrible scarring on his face.

 _ **Holt, the Commissar-Inquisitor**_

 _ **DARK/Warrior/Effect**_

 _ **LVL/6 ATK/2200 DEF/1600**_

"I activate Holt's effect! By destroying a monster on my side of the field with taint counters, I can increase my other monster's attack points by 300 for every taint counter lost until the end of the turn. I sacrifice Layden, who has 5 taint counters on him!"

Layden's face grew pale as Holt leveled his gun at his face and executed him. The other duel monsters, seeing this act, were 'inspired' to do their own duties more quickly.

 _ **Crowe Atk 4500 (3000+300*5)**_

 _ **Sentinels Atk 1800 (300+300*5)**_

"Now Crowe, strike at thy foe! _**Strike of the Black Blade!**_ "

Crowe leaped at the enemies before him, slicing into them as the blade consumed their soul. However, a new challenger entered the fray.

"I activate _**Dungeon Potion: Haste!**_ With it, I target a monster on the field and it gains the ability to attack twice this turn! Repeat your performance, Crowe!"

Crowe just kept on attacking, slicing into enemies left and right. Barri, meanwhile, turned to look for the voice who had just buffed her monster. She saw a young man with spiky blonde hair and wearing a red jacket walk into the intersection, just a foot or two away from the action. The monsters took notice of this, and made to attack him, which is when he activated his face-down.

"Trap card activate: _**Dungeon Trap: Spike Wall!**_ The attack is negated, and the owner of the monster takes 100 points of damage times the monster's level!"

A row of spikes seemingly burst out of the air, ramming into the sides of the approaching monsters. Severly hurt, they all changed direction away from him, which is when he truly began his turn.

"I activate _**Gathering the Party!**_ When I have no monsters on the field, I can summon a " _ **Dungeoneer**_ " monster from my hand! I special summon _**Dungeoneer Paladin!**_ "

A man wearing crusader's armor and carrying a tower shield emerged onto the battlefield, an aura of righteousness enveloping him.

 _ **Dungeoneer Paladin**_

 _ **LIGHT/Warrior/Effect**_

 _ **LVL/5 ATK/1300 DEF/2000**_

"Now, I normal summon _**Dungeoneer Warlock!**_ "

A cackling figure appeared, his hands grasping a wooden rod which glowed a hellish orange.

 _ **Dungeoneer Warlock**_

 _ **DARK/Spellcaster/Effect**_

 _ **LVL/4 ATK/2000 DEF/400**_

"Dungeoneer Warlock's effect activates! When it is special summoned, I can draw three cards, but any cards which are not spells must be removed from play!" He drew his three. "Two of the cards are spells, so I can keep them. The other card is removed from play. Now I play one of the cards I just drew, _**Polymerization!**_ "

" _Traveller in knight's armor. Traveller of arcane mysteries. Fuse together your powers so that a new legend can be written. I fusion summon_ _ **Dungeon Expert Knight of the Sacred Seal!"**_

The two monsters spun together in a spiral, before enveloping the area in light. When the light had faded, there stood a new monster on the field. He wore armor just like the paladin, but on it was a strange geometric symbol, which appeared on his shield as well. Behind him stood a transparent spirit, watching his every move.

 _ **Dungeon Expert Knight of the Sacred Seal**_

 _ **LIGHT/Warrior/Fusion/Effect**_

 _ **LVL/8 ATK/2000 DEF/1800**_

 _2000 attack points?_ Barri thought. _That's really not that much for a fusion monster of that level._

"Knight of the Sacred Seal's effect activates! I can remove a 'Dungeoneer' monster in my hand from play. In exchange, he adds that creature's defense points to his attack points! However, I can only activate this effect once per duel. Still, I remove _**Dungeoneer Barbarian**_ from my hand!"

The spirit of a musclebound warrior materialized behind the knight in the other spirit's place.

 _ **Dungeoneer Barbarian**_

 _ **EARTH/Warrior/Effect**_

 _ **LVL/5 ATK/2000 DEF/2000**_

"Dungeoneer Barbarian's defense points were 2000! Therefore, Knight of the Sacred Seal gains 2000 attack points!"

 _ **Knight of the Sacred Seal Atk 4000 (2000+2000)**_

"Now go, Knight of the Sacred Seal! _**Vestige Inferno!**_ "

The knight charged, adding the barbarians battle cries to his own. He spun around in the air before plunging his sword into the earth, causing it to erupt with hot lava, burning the nearby enemies.

Barri saw this, and how it was damaging the creatures. _Does he have the same power as me? It does look like it._ As she thought this, the last of the abominations died, and she could now focus her attention on the young man who had helped her. He noticed her looking at him and smiled cheerfully.

"Well, that's all the monsters taken care of. I should probably go check out the next-"

"Wait, how did your monsters hurt those creatures."

The man's smile disappeared, replaced with an exaggerated frown. "You know, it's kind of polite to find out somebody's name before you question them like that."

"Fine. What is your name?"

The smile reappeared. "My name is Anthony, one of the Lieutenants who serve the Metal Man. It's my job to help take down these creatures and ensure that there's nothing infringing on our own turf."

"'Turf'? So, you're a criminal!"

He nonchalantly replied "Yeah. It makes good money, and the Metal Man is quite humane compared to the other underworld bosses. Especially the guy who caused all of this."

"Wait, you know who did this?"

"Well, we know that he's the leader of this whole thing, but not much else. He seems to have this power to stop all of our spy equipment. Really annoying, you know?"

Barri frowned. "So, you're not helping these people out because they could be dying?"

"Actually, we are. If the people die, who's going to buy all of our cool illegal stuff? We're talking spy gear, rare materials, guns-"

"SO YOU'RE A GUN SMUGGLER."

"My friends in the business would hate to call it that, but I'll admit it, yeah. Though, like I said, the Metal Man is more humane than most. He doesn't like to sell the more dangerous stuff to the obviously insane guys. They don't tend to be repeat customers, after all. It's much more profitable to just sell them to the average citizen so that he can have something to help him when all the _other_ gangs come along to empty his wallet. That in itself comes with the added bonus of less competition, because a dead competition is no competition at all." He said this all with the straightest face a man could have.

Barri sighed. "Why, why, why do I have to get the criminals?"

"Hey, I just remembered, you never told me your name."

"It's Barri."

"...is that a nickname or something?"

"Yes."

"For what?"

"You aren't going to find out."

"Ahh, and here I thought we were getting along so well!"

 _Father in Heaven, will you not strike down the idiot before you? His stupidity already gives way to sin, so why not just remove this problem from, well, anyone?_

%\%\%\%\%\%

I was going to make this chapter longer, but I have my limits when it comes to chapter length.

Anthony was, and still is I guess, a work in progress in terms of his character. I want part of him to be like Giacomo, but I also want parts of some of the other characters introduced so far to help make up his personality. So, if you guys could give any ideas for any quirks I could give him, I would actually appreciate that.

His deck, the Dungeoneers, are based on the classic Dungeons and Dragons classes, while their fusions, the Dungeon Experts, are based on the prestige classes from DnD 3.5 edition, along with in the future some of the "archetypes" from DnD 5th edition. The traps in this case are based on literal "traps", and the spells are based on both actual spells and potions as well. As for gameplay, they're a lot like E. Heroes and Gem Knights. Hey, I can't completely innovate every time, now can I?

Stephen gets introduced to Sol and Mab, and speaking of those two, it's time to talk about Anima Banners (yay!) Starting at the beginning, Exalts use "Essence" to fuel their powers, in increments called "motes". These motes come from two different pools, Personal Essence and Peripheral Essence. The first pool, Personal, doesn't have a lot of essence in it, but any powers that you power with it that aren't huge displays like fireballs or what not don't leave any trace or sign that you are using any sort of power. Peripheral, on the other hand, is the opposite. There's a lot of essence in it, but when you use it you build up this thing called an "anima banner". It's basically a glowing aura that tells all of your enemies "Hey guys, I'm right over here!" However, the anima banner comes with a power. When your anima banner is low, it takes a few motes to activate, but as the banner builds up the cost to activate the power becomes cheaper and cheaper until eventually it's free! Now normally, building up an anima banner is a _bad thing_ , because in the Exalted Setting, if you're not a Terrestrial Exalt, you could be burned at the stake for being a witch or a demon or something. But in this setting, since such prejudices haven't been created yet, it's really not so bad of a thing.

Each caste of each type of Exalt has their own different type of anima banner with it's own unique power. These are the anima banner powers for all the Exalts we've shown so far, just so if they activate later in the story I don't have to worry about explaining each power every time:

Solar, Dawn Caste: Fear Aura that also slows down incoming attacks, making them easier to dodge. Does not actually inspire people, that's a separate power.

Lunar, Changing Moon Caste: Crafts an illusion of another person, but at higher levels the light pierces through it, so in exchange the banner cloaks the user in shifting shadows which hide their position.

Sidereal, Chosen of Battles: Increases reduces the damage taken by the user and all nearby allies.

Sidereal, Chosen of Endings: Increases damage dealt by user and nearby allies.

There will be more, of course, but these are the ones we have right now.

Finally, Stephen shows off the Water-Attribute Symphonic Battler: Crush '98! Yes, it is based on Crush 40's "Open Your Heart", the song they created for the original Sonic Adventure. I always liked that song, and thought it should get some recognition.

Finally, I don't know if I talked about this last chapter (I believe I didn't) but the book series Merlin was talking about reading was Brandon Sanderson's "The Stormlight Archive." Good series to read. The joke he was referring to was a hilarious carriage scene in the second book (which came out in 2014, so I guess Sanderson began writing this series earlier in this universe? *shrugs shoulders*, eh, it's not that big of a deal.) The joke specifically was with three of the main characters all recognizing this one guy, Wit (one of the greatest trolls the world has ever known), with the basic outline being: "YOU!" "Me!" Plot Stuff, Plot Stuff, second character gets out of the carriage, "YOU!" "Me!", jokes and more plot stuff and then the third person gets out: "YOU!" "Yes, it's me-" interrupted by a hug. Really great scene, and a really great series in general, I would definitely recommend it.

There's not much to talk about until next chapter, so, thank you for continuing to read this story, please leave a review and enjoy your life!

You never know when it's going to be gone. (HINT! HINT!)

Stay safe out there,

Critian Caceorte


	14. Chapter 14: Dance of the Righteous Devil

_**A/N Notes:**_ Time to look at reviews!

To the Dear Mr. Ford1114, yes Merlin was once Nimue, and even that _alone_ makes the story for the Safehold series more interesting.

As for Silber, her name is actually the German word for Silver. All of the Exalts except for Sansion have names in different languages (Dialydd Mab is Welsh, as I've said time and again, for "Avenging Son", Sol is Latin for "the Sun" and Bastardo Fortunato is Italian for "Lucky Bastard".) Sansion's name is just a passing reference to sans from Undertale.

The Metal Man and his Lieutenants are all "supposed" to be smugglers, to different degrees of criminality. The Professor is on the lower end of the spectrum (though he definitely helps them out, as will be seen eventually) with Anthony being higher on the scale (though nowhere near the levels of "the Antagonist who I still haven't given a name for because apparently I'm just that lazy" and his gang.

And that wraps up all of the reviews. To note, I'm sorry this chapter came out so late compared to the others, it's just that I've been trying to make it an extra-long one. So, thank you for your continued support and dedication. On to the story!

 _ **The Tunnels Below the City/10:21 AM**_

They waited in the tunnels. They held their phones up in the air, prepared to receive the signal to go. To say that they were excited at the prospects of what was going to happen would be an understatement. Some of them complained, most fidgeted, but a few stood still, merely waiting.

Finally, a single text came to their phones. The signal had been given. Hooting and hollering, they almost leaped out of the tunnels, ready to cause some mayhem. They grabbed their bats, hammers, guns, any weapons they could take with them and ran out into the streets. However, the streets were empty. They had expected a lack of people, but not total abandonment. The whole group, dozens in all, could not find a single person out there besides themselves. Suddenly, a sound caught the attention of most of the group.

A single creature, relatively small compared to their usual size, limped along. Something was wrong with it, however. It was covered in what looked to be pustules and cancerous tumors. It's skin was covered in green splotches, which despite the "glitching" common to their kind, remained there no matter what. It opened it's mouth… and it's _tongue_ fell out, along with whatever teeth it had. Losing the last of it's mouth, the creature fell down and gasped it's last breath.

The men had all seen this, and it terrified them. The talked amongst each other, wondering what could have caused this. Some suggested ultraviolet rays. Others thought that it was because it's strange nature interacting harmfully with the environment. One man, a leader among them, got it right: "It's a disease."

This of course carried the discussion on what kind of discussion could have caused this. There were some diseases that caused pustules, but tumors were a different matter intirely. One of them wondered whether it was a new kind of bubonic plague. The answer, however, came from a voice outside their large group.

"It's the Green Sun Wasting."

They all turned to look at this outsider. He wore what seemed to be a strange mix of a green suit and armor. His hands and arms had tiger's fur on them, and his canines were elongated like a wolf's. He had decently large muscles, and he had green hair atop his head.

Those poor fools. Apparently they had never learned to recognize Giacomo in his Exalted state. His grin turned predatory as he looked at all the men before him. One of them, the leader from before, moved to front and called out to him.

"And what, exactly, is that?"

"You a leader of these guys?"

"Some of them. I am called by my master The River Turned Wormwood. Any other names are irrelevant at this point."

"Hmm. My name is Giacomo, son of Leschul, demoness of the Wooded Wastes, inside the Makai Realm. Though, in this state, I am Fortunato, an Infernal Exalt, Slayer Caste.

"That did not answer my original question, however."

"...Well, Wormwood, the Green Sun Wasting is a very terrible disease. However, the good news it's only really spread by very specific abilities."

The men let out their held breath at hearing this. They wiped the sweat off their foreheads.

"The bad news is, I'm the guy with them."

The whole group's eyes widened before training took over and they assumed a fighting stance. Fortunato merely took out a knife and spun it on the tip of his finger as he watched them. Another one of the leaders called out, "Attack! Now!" The Leaders along with some of the others took out chromantic cards, red, green, blue, black and white (no, not Magic: the Gathering, sadly). With them, they called out their various chants.

" _Dragon's Blood! Power of Water!"_

" _Power of Earth!"_

" _Power of Fire!"_

" _Power of Air!"_

" _Power of Wood!_ _ **Exalt!**_ "

The card-wielders transformed, taking on various different aspects of nature. Some grew scales, other's skin became like bark, while for others it was like stone. For some, feather's sprouted and others their hair became alit with flame.

 **(Cue Kevin Macleod -** _ **Exit the Premises**_ **)**

Fortunato took in all of this with his usual self-confidence. Once more his foot tapped to an invisible beat, and his knife began to glow sickly green. He soon started to clap his hands, and it was obvious, though they disbelieved it when they initially saw it. The young man was _dancing_. He nodded to them, and shouted: "I've found that nothing feels truly satisfying if nothing is on the line. So, with that said, _let the music_ _ **play**_ _**on!**_ "

They charged at him, doing various magical martial arts and throwing energy blasts. He took this in stride, and began his dance of blades. He threw knives at the charging Terrestrial Exalts, leaping out of the way of the few who dodged the initial barrage. One of the knives he began to charge with power, causing it glow bright green, then threw at the mass of them. " _ **Green Sun Nimbus Flare!"**_ Straightaway, they were caught by the explosion, and the ones who weren't hit by soon saw their brothers growing tumors on their face and body, their hair falling out along with their nails. Such terrifying things made them hurl their lunches, which just made them easy targets for the rest of Fortunato's knives. Still, an energy blast or two did manage to hit him, and he wasn't exactly the most durable guy around. He tried not to instinctively clutch his side when another blast got him there. He was doing quite well, but he was but one man against about a hundred. _I might need to bug out of here. May need to use the card's full power…_ But, just as he thought that, another figure in green came charging onto the battlefield on a horse.

The man wore green Oriental armor, carrying a guan dao. His beard seemed to reach down to his waist. And behind him flew… the Metal Man.

" _Well, hello, gentlemen. Am I interrupting something?"_

Strangely, both sides shouted: "No, no!" The gang members because of their thinning numbers, and Fortunato because of the wounds he was starting to suffer. At hearing this, the Metal Man sighed.

" _Well then, so none of you would mind me joining in the fight? Excellent! Then let me start things off!_ _ **Wielder of Wonders Guan Yu,**_ attack the Terrestrial forces!"

The man on the horse leaped at the crowd, and they ran to avoid his blade. The Metal Man immediately pulled out a card and placed it on the duel disk he carried, right next to Guan Yu.

" _I summon_ _**Crafter of Wonders Moradin!**_ "

A large dwarf appeared, pounding on an anvil with his hammer.

 _ **Crafter of Wonders Moradin**_

 _ **EARTH/Rock/Effect**_

 _ **LVL/3 ATK/900 DEF/1000**_

 _ **Artifact Counters: 3**_

" _Moradin's effect activates! Once per turn, I can move a 'artifact counter' off of him and onto another monster. Moradin has three such counters, so I move one off of him and onto Guan Yu!_ "

 _ **Moradin Counters: 2**_

 _ **Guan Yu Counters: 1**_

" _While Moradin is on the field, any 'Wielder of Wonders' monsters with artifact counters who would be destroyed by battle can remove a counter to prevent their destruction! Additionally, Guan Yu's effect activates! While he has artifact counters, he gains 1000 attack points!_ "

 _ **Wielder of Wonders Guan Yu**_

 _ **EARTH/Warrior/Effect**_

 _ **LVL/4 ATK/1200 DEF/1000**_

 _ **Guan Yu Atk 2200 (1200+1000)**_

Moradin took Guan Yu's guan dao and put the blade onto his anvil. After some pounding, it seemed to glow with power.

" _Next, I play_ _ **Bloodfire Furnace!**_ _While it is on the field, any 'Wielder of Wonders' monsters with artifact counters gains 500 attack points._ "

 _ **Guan Yu Atk 2700 (2200+500)**_

" _Finally, the cornerstone to this operation!_ _ **Dedication to Perfection!**_ _This turn, I target a 'Crafter of Wonders' monster on the field, and I can move all artifact counters on it to another monster! I move the remaining 2 counters onto Guan Yu, and for the rest of this turn Guan Yu gains 200 attack points for every artifact counter he has!"_

 _ **Moradin Counters: 0**_

 _ **Guan Yu Counters: 3**_

 _ **Guan Yu Atk 3300 (2700+200*3)**_

" _Guan Yu, strike with all of your divine might!"_

Guan Yu nodded, then snapped the reins on his horse, causing it to sprint forward. While on it, he spun his weapon around, slicing into the Terrestrial forces. They did their best to hold him back, but to no avail. Fortunato, sensing an opportunity, threw knives into the panicking crowd. Finally one of the leaders cried: "Retreat! Retreat!"

Hearing the order, the rest of the men ran away into the underground where they came from. Fortunato saw them run, caught his breath, then turned to the Metal Man.

"You're the Metal Man, aren't you? That one crime boss?"

" _That would be me, yes."_

Fortunato glared at him, his thoughts racing. "Isn't one of your powers that you can do the whole 'Magneto' thing? Why didn't you just use that here?"

The Metal Man sighed. " _It is not the 'Magneto' thing, that involves a manipulation of magnetism. My power is the manipulation of_ metal _, which includes the non-magnetic ones such as titanium. As for why I didn't use that here? Take a closer look under Guan Yu's hologram."_

He did so, and he saw underneath the hologram a metallic frame, quite hollow except for the guan do, which was perfectly serviceable. That wasn't the end of the explanation, however.

" _That is not all. This,"_ he waved his arm towards Guan Yu, " _barely consumes any energy. What I am dedicating energy to, are thousands of instances of 'bad luck'."_

"What?"

" _As we speak, hundreds of the enemy's henchmen are experiencing 'accidents', 'mistakes', and so forth. Their guns suddenly jamming, their radios being off-frequency, their clothes with metallic parts suddenly feeling heavier than they were previously. Clocks being off, knives weighing them down like sledgehammers… Those are what I have been dedicating my power towards. If not for those tiny instances of bad luck, far more people would be dead now, compared to what has been happening."_

Fortunato was stunned by this. "Oh. But what about your infamous robberies?"

" _Ah, yes, those. My power, despite what you think, does have it's limitations. For example, I could access any wires in a building, but unless I did research beforehand, I would not know what those wires_ do _. Yes, gun turrets are an easy thing to take care of, but cameras? Computers? They are much, much harder to stop and control than you think. That's why I never do a robbery any more than once a year, if that (not including the fact that just like you don't overuse a field, you don't keep robbing a bank, or else it won't produce anything). Because I have to find out_ everything _there is to know before I can use it to it's maximum effect. Does that answer your question satisfactorily?"_

"Uh, yeah. Sorry about that."

The Metal Man just laughed. " _Actually, I shouldn't be telling you all of this. It's far more effective if the common populace believes that I have godlike powers than if they know that I have my limitations. Of course, if this stuff_ does _leak to the police, I have ways to…_ reprimand _that."_

Fortunato put up his hands in defense. "Don't worry, I won't. But why Duel Monsters?"

" _Excuse Me?"_

"Why do you use Duel Monsters?"

The Metal Man didn't answer, and merely looked away from him. Fortunato took a guess. "You'd rather not answer that."

" _Indeed, I would not. I do have my reasons, but I would prefer they be known only to me."_

"Very well then, it's your business. I have some friends to go find, anyways." With that, he ran towards some of the other fights nearby. The Metal Man sighed, then pulled out a specific card from his deck. _They will most likely find out eventually, with how this battle is going. I didn't have the heart to tell the boy that my followers are having much less success than I would like. I doubt we will lose, but it does stand a good chance of being a pyrrhic victory._

 _ **The Rooftops/11:46 AM**_

The fighting was brutal, but Silber continued on. Another group of thugs emerged from whatever hiding place they had stolen away in. She charged towards them, changing into her war form as she did so, talons scraping away at human flesh. One of the men swung a crowbar, which she jumped to avoid and perched on to with her toes. Grasping his shoulders, she used her momentum to pull the crowbar out of his grasp and shove it into his eye socket. She jumped off of it in a backwards somersault and kicked her feet out at another approaching man, sticking her claws into his face. Screaming, he tried to shake her off, but she bent down with her hands to push off the ground, the force of which knocked the two of them over. She stood up as another man tackled her to the ground. That was a mistake. Using her claws, she broke off his jaw, which she then used to smash in his head. Another man, a Fire element Terrestrial Exalt, charged at her, then raised his head to continuously kick at her. She dodged the kicks, then grabbed his leg, and swept the other one out beneath him. Using momentum and strength, she threw him using his leg into a nearby wall. The force of it knocked him out. The other men, terrified ran.

 _Good. At least the fools have some sense._ She then looked onwards towards the streets, and her face softened. _Oh, Lee, I do hope that you're safe._

 **(Cue Eurythmics -** _ **Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)**_ **)**

Her nose caught the smell before her ears heard anything. She twisted out of the way as a pair of scimitars swiped down at her location. She looked to her attacker's location, to see that they were no longer there. Dropping down low, she kicked her feet out and, by chance or by skill, managed to grab the attacker's leg with her feet. She tried to scratch the attacker's limb, but the scimitars blocked the way, and she found herself shook off. Tumbling, she caught a glance of her attacker.

A woman, wearing a white mask, with long elf ears stood behind her. She raised her scimitars as Silber got back on her feet. Taking a stance, she lunged, then vanished from sight, but by then Silber knew the pattern. Using her beast-form's wings, she buffeted the elf behind her. Turning around, she clocked the elf in the mask. In response, the elf waved her hand and reality seemed to… _shift_ about, like looking at a reflection in the surface of the water. The Elf dissapeared once more, and Silber tried to sense her movements… but something was off with her senses. She smelled all around something like a mix of lavender and skunk. She heard the croaks of frogs and the roars of prehistoric beasts despite the fact that none were around. Her head began to hurt as she grew more and more disoriented.

 **(End Theme)**

And finally, she found herself unconscious after the hit to her head from the hilt of the elf's scimitar.

The elf looked at her, saw her change back into a familiar sight. Shaking her head, she ran off.

 _ **The Hotel/12:23 AM**_

The war effort, at least near the hotel, was going fine. Stephen had summoned _**Symphonic Battler**_ _**Dvorak 9-4**_ alongside Crush '98, and the two were going at it against the horde of monsters, who couldn't decide between attacking the humans and fleeing from the presence of the golden knight. Samsomon was doing his best, clobbering any creatures that had evaded the attacks of the two Duel Monsters. Mab was taking pot shots into this crowd of beasts, and Sol was still leading the people to certain victory.

And that's when the big guy showed up.

 **(Cue Ocarina of Time OST -** _ **Boss Battle**_ **)**

It had the arms of an orangatan, and a mermaid's tail. It had to be larger than the first creature they had fought, and despite having both the head of a giraffe and the main of a lion, it looked quite frightening. That was probably due to the combination of dragon's wings and the knight's armor adorning it's torso and arms. It roared with the screech of a bat mixed with the snort of a bull, and it had the combined anger of both.

It spun the fish tail around, smacking and killing several people in one blow. Sol was also hit, but his armor and will protected him. He stood adamant against the misshapen abomination, making to hit it with his shield. Dvorak 9-4 made to slice the creature with it's greatsword, while Samsomon got on the creature's back and began to climb. Crush '98 found that it's attacks were ineffective, so the Professor sent it out to kill more of the minions.

Mab tried to aim his pistols to the creature's head, but as he fired the creature's eye disappeared and reappeared in another location on it's body. _It's able to actively shape it's body? This one must be more powerful than the first one we fought, even beyond my expectations._

Sol tried to slice the creature's armor, but was deflected by the armor. _How powerful is this armor that these giants have? Even Oriachalcum seems to have a limited effect on it._ He was about to slice it again, but the arm moved faster than he expected and slammed him into a nearby building.

Dvorak 9-4 tried the same, but was similarly repelled. Meanwhile, Samsomon kept on climbing until he got to the beast's wings. He grabbed them, and tried his best to pull them off the abomination. It howled in pain, and just when he thought he had done some damage, his grip failed him and he fell. He tried to grasp for anything that would slow his fall, but the creature's muscular arm smacked him, and in doing so, made him fly sky high. Maria saw this and screamed.

"SAMSOMON!"

 **(End Theme)**

She tried running towards him, but rubble kept on blocking her path. She hastily climbed over them to reach him, and when she got to his location she found him buried under a pile. She ran over to where his head was, and she could see how much he was struggling to escape the pile. She hugged his head, even as he struggled, and even as she cried. Looking up at her, Samsomon saw something blue in her hand.

"Maria, what's that in your hand?"

She looked down, and there was now, out of nowhere, a blue card in her hand. Samsomon recognized it immediately.

"That card… that can help me digivolve to my Ultimate-level!"

She looked back at him, hope appearing on her face. "Really?"

"Yes! Quickly, use it Maria!"

She nodded, then made to swipe the card…

...when she was knocked out by a backhand blow to the head.

She fell over, and with terror Samsomon saw her attacker. A man with red hair…

"Heh, the lass needs to learn to check her surroundings. You'd think that with those battles and the martial arts lessons that it wouldn't be too difficult."

Samsomon roared. "WHO ARE YOU?! I WILL TEAR OUT YOUR INTESTINES-"

"And strangle me with them, yes, yes, I've heard it before. As for who I am, there are two answers. The first you know, and the second… my name is Angau, an assassin for Elias Nocturne, the leader of this organization, the master of this great mystery if you will. _He's_ the guy you should be yelling at."

Samsomon obviously didn't care. He was too busy roaring his lungs out as his anger grew, more and more until all sense was lost. He struggled to break free of the rubble, and as he did, something interesting caught Angau's eye.

What seemed to be corrupted data began to rotate around Samsomon. His eyes turned dark red as more and more corrupted data began swirling around him. Angau chuckled darkly as he saw this happen.

"So, you've finally snapped, uh? Now, to see what you'll become…"

"Sam… so… mon… ... _ **DARK ...SHINKA!"**_

His body grew to gigantic levels. His skin turned from the color of bronze armor to reddish purple. His curly hair turned blood red as an eyepatch appeared on his head along with his headband. His wool clothing burned to reveal leather armor underneath it. An Onyx obelisk rose from the ground next to him, which he lifted to reveal the phoenix feathers that served as fletchings for it. He roared his name for all the world to hear.

" _ **NIMROMON!"**_

 **(Cue Attack on Titan -** _ **1st Opening Theme (**_ **Sorry, I couldn't help it.))**

Angau laughed at the giant now before him. "And the Good Book Says: 'He was a mighty hunter before the Lord.' Come, founder of Babel! Let us destroy the so-called 'City of God!'"

Nimromon turned towards him, then smashed his fist into the ground where Angau once stood. As for Angua himself, he had jumped onto the fist that had been hurdling towards him. He scowled at first, then his grin appeared once more.

"So, you still want to work off some of that anger? Okay, sonny, let's _dance_."

 **(End Theme)**

 _ **The Hotel/12:39 AM**_

The other men did not notice the giant that had suddenly emerged from the ruins of another house. They were too busy trying to defeat the creature that was still thrashing about. Crush '98 had taken care of the nearby minions, and was trying it's best to deal some sort of damage to beast. It finally noticed it's futile attacks, and shot rays of heat at it. It was so overpowering that the battler finally just gave up, and broke apart into pieces.

Stephen's eyes glowed blue as he prevented the pain from reaching him. He could still hear the Metal Man's warning echoing in his brain. _I know I can't use it too much, but this is important. That monster has a weakness, and I'm going to find it!_ As the glow in his eyes brightened, he shouted out a battlecry.

" _Path of Clear Air! Grant me the sight I desire!"_

A celestial symbol appeared on the back of his hand. Meanwhile, his vision changed, showing him threads connecting the monsters, the people, the buildings, all of Rome was connected. One thread he noticed, red in color. It connected the center of the beast's mass to it's armor. He nodded as he seemed to grasp for the thread in his hands, despite how far away he was from it.. _So, it's form is unstable, and the armor is the thing keeping it together. Good to know._ He looked at another thread, blue, connecting the monster to a clock only he could see, it's hour hand resting on two. _It has two forms to go through before it will truly die._ Finally, he could see a purple thread connecting the monster to… _Woah, I did not see that giant over there. Really should get my hearing checked. In any case, this giant will be the end of this beast. I'll need to bring the two together somehow-_

" _Well, nice to see you again."_

 _Damn it, not now!_ He quickly shut off his power and his eyes returned to their normal brown. Shaking his head, he then checked his graveyard. _Good, so the contigency plan is primed and ready._ He picked three cards from his hand, then played one of them.

"I normal summon _**Instrument of Battle Oboe!"**_

An oboe appeared, and whistled up a tune.

 _ **Instrument of Battle Oboe**_

 _ **WIND/Fairy/Tuner**_

 _ **LVL/4 ATK/1500 DEF/500**_

"When I have an Instrument of Battle tuner monster on the field, and I have a Symphonic Battler monster in my graveyard, I can play _**Symphonic Dissonance!**_ By removing the Symphonic Battler, in this case Crush '98, in my graveyard from play, I can bring an Instrument of Battle monsters from my graveyard. I bring back _**Instrument of Battle Trumpet."**_

Trumpet made it's entrance once more onto the battlefield.

 _ **Instrument of Battle Trumpet**_

 _ **WIND/Fairy/Effect**_

 _ **LVL/4 ATK/1000 DEF/1000**_

"Trumpet's effect activates! When there is another tuner monster on the field, Trumpet himself is considered a tuner monster. And thus, Oboe's effect activates. When it and another tuner monster are summoned on the same turn, I can bring back an Instrument of Battle monster from my graveyard, but it is no longer considered a tuner monster. I bring back _**Instrument of Battle Violin."**_

Violin appeared with a soft stroke of it's strings.

 _ **Instrument of Battle Violin**_

 _ **WIND/Fairy/Effect**_

 _ **LVL/4 ATK/1500 DEF/500**_

"Thus, the stage is set for one more showing. I tune my level 4 Instrument of Battle Violin with level 4 Instrument of Battle Oboe and level 4 Instrument of Battle Trumpet!"

A familiar formation of green rings and shining orbs of light appeared. Then, the Professor began chanting as a world famous tune began playing.

 _ **Tuning: 4 (Oboe)+ 4 (Trumpet)+ 4 (Violin)= Lv.12**_

" _The charge of horses and the dust of the racetrack synchronize together to form: THE SYMPHONY OF LIBERATION! I synchro summon_ _ **Symphonic Battler Rossini '29!"**_

 **(Cue The William Tell Overture -** _ **Finale**_ **)**

Coming from the horizon came a large grey knight riding a massive brown horse, which also pulled a large chariot behind it. The knight carried in his hands both the reins and a large lance.

 _ **Symphonic Battler Rossini '29**_

 _ **EARTH/Warrior/Synchro/Union**_

 _ **LVL/12 ATK/2000 DEF/0**_

"Rossini '29's effect activates! It can equip itself to any other 'Symphonic Battle' monster on the field, and while so equipped that monster inflicts piercing battle damage and cannot be affected by enemy monster's effects. It thus equips itself to Dvorak 9-4!"

Rossini '29 passed by Dvorak 9-4, who grabbed the chariot as it went past and got in.

"Now, Dvorak 9-4! Strike this abomination! _**Will of the New World!"**_

Rossini '29 made a pass by the creature. When they had gotten close enough, Dvorak 9-4 leapt out and sliced at the monster's armor. Unlike before, the armor cracked under the force of the blow and split. The beast roared it's safety device broke. It's form shifted as it's wings dissolved into nothing. Then, it's mermaid tail morphed and shifted until in it's place was the front half of a turtle. The giraffe head screamed as arachnid legs emerged from the former tail. Then, it shed it's mane as a large stinger emerged from it's mouth, the pain of such causing it to bend over backwards. It was now the Lovecraftian equivalent of a scorpion.

Everyone who saw the creature's transformation, except for Sol (because of his willpower) and Mab (because he didn't have a liver anymore), spewed vomit onto the ground. Stephen wiped his mouth as he finished heaving, despite what he knew was coming. Suddenly, Rossini '29 picked him up by the arm as the scorpion creature tried to crush him underneath it's massive stinger.

"Thank you," he told his monster. That thanks was short lived, however, as that same massive stinger pierced through both Rossini '29 and Dvorak 9-4. The two of them riled in pain, before dissolving into pieces. The momentum of such a blow sent Stephen tumbling into the ground. Just when it seemed to recover, however, the stinger, striking faster than any creature alive on the earth, drove home. A cloud of dust covered his position, as both Sol and Mab screamed in loss.

 **(End Theme)**

"NO!"

However, something was off. The creature had stopped moving. Indeed, it seemed… confused, if that was possible. The people present could hear a voice coming from the dustcloud.

"Whenever I would take lethal damage, and I have three eligible synchro materials in my graveyard, I can remove those three monsters from play to special summon…"

An large winged figure emerged from the dust, carrying Stephen in it's grasp. It looked like an angelic knight, it's aura shining even in the noonday sun.

"... _ **Symphonic Battler Bon Jovi '86!"**_

 **(Cue Bon Jovi -** _ **Livin' on a Prayer**_ **)**

 _ **Symphonic Battler Bon Jovi '86**_

 _ **LIGHT/Warrior/Synchro/Effect**_

 _ **LVL/12 ATK/0 DEF/3500**_

"Bon Jovi '86's effect is in play! When I special summon him with his effect, then as long as he remains on the field _**MY LIFE POINTS CANNOT BE REDUCED TO 0!**_ Of course, if he dies, I lose, but oh well.

"In any case, now that I've lured you all the way here… _**GIANT! THIS CREATURE WISHES TO PROVE IT'S STRENGTH TO YOU!"**_

Nimromon roared when he heard this. Ignoring his current fight with Angau, he charged toward the abomination. It stung him as he ran toward it, but it still wasn't enough to keep him down. He grabbed the scorpion by the tail and slammed it's body repeatedly into the earth. Again and again, he kept on doing this, until finally the creature's body broke down into glitching data fragments. When it's data core was exposed, he threw his onyx arrow at it, destroying it utterly. He howled a victory cry as his enemy faded away.

Sol nodded as he saw all of this. _That's one foe finished, but I'm running quite low on Essence. I'm going to have to use as little as possible to maintain the Anima Banner._ Next to him, Mab was thinking the same thing. _I'm almost out of Essence. I can still fight as Merlin, but that means I will most likely have to go up close and personal in order to do so. Ergh, where is that giant's weak point? The eye?_

The two of them heard Stephen's voice as Bon Jovi '86 carried him away to who knows where. "I'm sorry, you two, but Bon Jovi '86's effect also states that I cannot summon anymore Symphonic Battler monsters as long as it remains on the field, so I'm afraid I'll have to flee due to my lack of options."

"That's fine." Said Mab. "Thank you for your help!"

"You're welcome… and good luck."

They couldn't hear that last part, but still they could sense it in the air. The two of them looked to one another, nodded, then charged towards the monster. Sol leaped to meet Nimromon in the air and managed to slice his shoulder while he was turned away. Enraged, Nimromon swatted him out of the air. As he fell, Sol could only think one thing.

 _This is starting to become a habit for me, isn't it?_

Mab aimed his pistols at the giant, trying to get a clear shot at his sole eye. However, a flash of insight came into his mind and he turned around to see Angau walking up behind him. The hairy man just smiled. "So, you could sense I was coming? That's an improvement over last time, at least."

Mab snarled. "Am I supposed to believe you're behind the appearance of this giant?"

"Partly. I stoked his temper, sure, but it's not exactly my fault that he had such a short fuse in the first place. Still, I wasn't expecting something on _this_ sort of scale. It's like Christmas in April!"

"But why? Why awaken such a thing? _How_ did you do awaken such a thing?"

Angau laughed quite loudly. "Now, isn't that just the million-dollar question? All though," he took a look at his surroundings, "with the way things are going, it might be the billion dollar question. Property in Rome's worth quite a lot, after all."

He tilted his head as he listened at what Angau just said. "You really have no empathy, do you?"

"If it doesn't benefit me, I don't care. I embrace a concept that humanity seems to have left at the wayside, you know what it is. We left it at the house of nature, of animals, trees, all of that. I'm just embracing our true origins."

Merlin just stared at him. Face perfectly smooth. With that emotionless expression, he raised a single finger in Angau's direction. He just grinned, looking at it. Nodding his head, he asked Mab: "Anything else you got for me?"

Merlin's face contorted into a cold smile. "Just one. How familiar are you with Sidereal Martial Arts?"

Angau looked at him. "You're bluffing."

"Indeed I am, however, I do know one Celestial Style, at least."

Angau's trademark grinned reappeared on his face. "And which one is that?"

 **(Cue Marvel vs Capcom 3 OST -** _ **Ghost Rider's Theme**_ **)**

Faster than most men can see, Merlin pulled out his two pistols. Right before he fired, he said: "Righteous Devil Style."

Angau moved only just enough to cause the bullet to graze his shoulder instead of hitting his chest, but it was still damage. He pulled a large knife out of nowhere and charged at Mab with it. Mab just jumped slightly back, then aimed one of the pistols at Angau.

" _ **Blossom of Inevitable Demise!"**_ He growled.

The bullet came out of the barrel at speeds approaching the speed of light. It created a screech which would burn nearby eardrums, and slammed itself into Angau's torso. With a loud "OOF!" He was knocked back a couple of feet onto his back, his breath becoming much more hazardous. As Mab approached, however, he began to laugh harder than Mab had ever heard him laugh before. With that same grin on his face, he got up, dusted his pants off, than looked at Mab.

"That was a nice shot. I liked how you increased the projectile speed to make it more accurate and deal higher damage than usual at the same time. Of course…" suddenly his hand morphed into a chainsaw, "I have a few tricks up my own sleeve." With that, he ran at faster speeds than Mab expected and ran the blade across his chest. While the chainsaw stopped at the metallic body underneath, he still laughed at the damage it had done to the Sidereal.

"Not so tough, eh? I fried bigger fish with me and my brother compared to what I've be doing ever since then. Honestly, could just try and put a-"

" _ **AZURE ABACUS!"**_

Suddenly, nine blue rings began rotating around Angau as Mab fired one last shot. As the bullet sped along, the rings slowly but surely began to align themselves right over where the bullet would hit. For some reason, Angau just couldn't seem to dodge the obvious shot. _What the hell is this garbage? It's no fun when there's no chance of missing!_ The bullet hit him and as it did, he could hear laughter reverberating in his ear. It wasn't his own, and it wasn't Mab. If he had met the man, he would have known whose laughter it was.

It was Sansion's.

 **(End Theme)**

He fell over, coughing at the force of the impact. He still got up, but this time that grin of his was nowhere to be seen. He pointed to Mab.

"You. When I see you next… they will tell _legends_ of what I will do to you."

And with that, he ran off. Mab took a few minutes to watch him go, then suddenly transformed back into Merlin. _Welp, looks like I've run out._ Luckily for him, he wasn't affected a lot by the now lack of Essence, but he did miss the power. Then he remembered as heard the giant's roar: _The Giant! I forgot about him!_

 _ **The Ruins/12:59 AM**_

Maria woke up. She slowly got up as the events of what had just happened flashed in front of her eyes. She heard a giant's roar over in the distance, and as she took a look at it, she took a glance of the now non-existent rubble pile where Samsomon used to be. _Oh no…_ She ran off in the battle's direction.

 _ **The Battlefield/That Moment…**_

Sol was running low. _Really_ low. _Looks like I'm going to be out of commision soon._ Then, he heard a loud screech as a birdlike creature covered in silver tattoos swooped down and slashed at the giant's sole eye. The Giant roared in pain as the eye imploded from the impact of the claws. The bird flew down to where Sol was and morphed back into a familiar, if serious, face.

"Miss Burlingtion?"

"I am known as Silber in this form. And in the tradition of the great wrestlers of man," she dropped her serious look as a mischievous smile appeared on her face, and she lightly tapped his arm. "Tag."

It took him a few moments to realize what she just did, but eventually he began snorted, then that snort led to a bought of laughter. He nodded to her, than his armor dissapeared as became the 'mere' Joseph Cain once more. As he walked away, he looked to her, than the giant. Then he yelled: "Take him down." With that, he was gone.

Silber nodded back, then her face hardened as she looked to the giant once more. _May your health not fail you, Mr. Cain. And,_ she transformed into the beast man state, _may my claws not do the same._ Shrieking with an inhuman pitch, she jumped to face the monster once more. Using her talons, she clawed at the giant's armor, hoping to ruin it in some form or fashion. Evidently, however, the "leather" armor wasn't truly leather, but some other, more durable substance. The giant, feeling the small amount of force her strikes produced, and currently lacking his sense of sight, groped and felt for her, which lead her to flying further up his body.

She kept trying to claw at him, but even his skin was incredibly tough. She ruined her talons faster than she was doing damage. Getting increasingly frustrated, she decided to improvise. She flew up to the giant's ear and, filling her lungs with air, she howled at full blast. Dazed from the sudden expulsion of sound, the giant reached around with his hand to try and grab her, but she simply flew to the other ear and repeated the process. At this point, the Giant was completely blind in both sight and hearing. He moaned as the pain was finally starting to get to him. Silber simply smiled at her success so far. _There we go. When a warrior has enough wit, battles like this become trivial._

However, the giant still had a card up his sleeve. Taking the eyepatch, he reversed it so it lay on the now damaged eye, revealing what almost seemed like a purple sun in the other socket. As it lay uncovered, the light from it began to glow more and more and Silber was blinded. Now that he had his sight restored, he picked her up and began to crush her ribs. She cried in pain as she could almost feel her ribs giving way.

However, such an agonizing moment was soon interrupted as Nimromon strangely felt himself… _sinking_ into the earth. He looked down to see his very shadow swallowing him up like a black hole. At the center of this dark circle was a black-haired woman, wearing the clothes of the same color. Grunting with effort, she shouted to Silber: "He's distracted! GET OUT!"

Silber, not one to question good sense, immediately did so. As she flew away, she something which made her question her own sanity.

A woman was riding on a _horse_ , which was _jumping across the rooftops._ Silber rubbed her eyes at this quite unusual sight. _What the hell..?_ The mounted figure cracked the reins, and the horse jumped up to the beast's _head_. Now in range, the woman slashed at the giant's face with a large black sword. Evidently, the sword could do what her own claws could not, namely harm the beast, as a large gash materialized, oozing dark… _what? That's not blood, that's… data, just like that of the creatures… except it doesn't look corrupted, or at least I can't tell at this distance._

The beast roared until it's lungs seemed to burst. It hadn't actually suffered any damage except in it's most vulnerable areas. So how could whatever weapon this woman wielded do what so many other things could not? The beast did not see, of course, that the black clothed woman gestured for something to come out of the shadows. He did, however, despite his temporary bout of deafness, hear her voice. It was one he recognized from long before…

"DAVIMON!" Yelled Maria. "WAKE UP! THE BATTLE'S OVER! JUST… GO TO SLEEP NOW!"

Never let it be said, that even as Nimromon he was not loyal. As her words pierced the madness that had overtaken him, he went down to one knee as his mental senses at least came back to him. He weakly mumbled, though as a weak mumble coming from a giant, one word. One name.

"Maria."

He fell over, and as he did, he began to glow with a white radiance as his body began to shrink, down to the little shepherd whom she loved. She ran over to him, crying and offering thanks to God, despite of her previous lack of devotion to such. Silber and the other two woman looked at this scene with joy in their hearts. A serious expression adorning her face once more, she turned to the other two.

"And, if I might ask, are you two?"

The one on the horse spoke first. "My name is Singer To The Despairing Soul, though I often shorten it just Singer. This is my steed, Noble Mane. And as for my companion, her name is Sophia, a crafter of shadows. We are both servants to the Metal Man, the… infamous crime lord."

Silber's eyebrows clenched. "And why are criminals aiding us in this fight."

Sophia spoke up with her usual enthusiasm. "We have loved ones as well. And of course, it's hard to sell something if there's no one to sell it to."

She nodded as she heard this response. "Very well then." She looked back at Maria and the now unconscious Davimon. "He really loves sleeping on the job, doesn't he?"

Maria, however, was not amused. "Don't. Just don't. He doesn't need crap like that right now. Just leave him alone." Carrying him, she walked off back to the hotel. Silber could only watch as she went away. Sighing, she thought, _well, hopefully the others are having more success than we are._

 _ **Outside of the Twin's Apartment/1:47 PM**_

Barri and Anthony _were_ having more success, but they even as they battled alongside one another, they still kept arguing until they were both hoarse. However, it was not either of them but Baldur who saw a shadow running across the rooftops. He pointed it out to the two of them. "Hey, lovers, take a look at that!"

Barri of course responded poorly to this. "WE ARE NOT IN LOVE! Really, Baldur? Do you honestly think that people fall in love after hating each other that much."

Anthony, however, ignored that jab, and was concentrating on what Baldur was pointing at. "What could go so fast across such uneven terrain? Those aren't flat roofs, and they're tiled to boot. I can't even see what it is at the rate it's going at."

The figure jumped down from it's lofty position. After the dust had cleared, Barri saw what seemed to be an elven woman wearing a blank mask and carrying two scimitars. The woman slowly raised her head, then took a look at Barri's monsters.

 _ **Crowe, the Purifying Inquisitor**_

 _ **LIGHT/Warrior/Effect**_

 _ **LVL/5 ATK/3000 DEF/2000**_

 _ **Grand Inquisitor Karamazov**_

 _ **DARK/Warrior/XYZ/Effect**_

 _ **RANK/6 ATK/2500 DEF/1800**_

 _ **XYZ Materials: 0**_

 _ **Taint Counters: 3**_

 _ **Grand Inquisitor Clyntahn**_

 _ **DARK/Fiend/XYZ/Effect**_

 _ **RANK/5 ATK/500 DEF/2300**_

 _ **XYZ Materials: 2**_

 _ **Taint Counters: 0**_

She tilted her head as she stared at them, then, shrugging her shoulders she sliced through Crowe with one of her blades. He disappeared in a cloud of dust, and Barri felt the pain of his passing. She played a card from her hand. "I activate _**Armaments of the Inquisition!**_ With it, I target Karamazov, and he gains 1500 attack points until the end of the turn! Now, destroy her, Karamazov!"

However, something else happened. The grenade appeared in the Inquisitor's lap, but it materialized without it's pin. The obvious results happened. After seeing her own monster being blown to pieces, Barri grew frustrated.

"Why is nothing working?!"

"The answer's simpler than you think, lass."

She and Anthony turned to see a red-haired man walking up to them. Based on Merlin's description of him, she knew who it was.

"Angau."

"So, you know who I am? Good. Now, I'm still just a bit pissed off at the cowboy of yours, so I'll make this short. She's a Raksha, one of the Fair Folk. Her life and existence are based around the concept of theatre and drama, so you have to think in those terms. That's why everything doesn't seem to be working right. Because in this grand play we call 'life', extras are just that, _**EXTRA!"**_

He snapped his fingers, and the woman turned around and looked at the building Barri and Anthony had been protecting. The one which Baldur stood in front of now. Barri's eyes widened as she made the connection. She called out to her last monster. "Clyntahn, protect Baldur! Now!"

For some reason, however, he did not do so and just sat back to watch the scene unfold. Barri began panicking. _Why aren't my monsters obeying me? What's going on here?_ Anthony called for his own monster to do the same. "Knight of the Sacred Seal, protect him!"

The knight was far more loyal than the inquisitor, and moved to protect the young man, but Angau dashed faster than the eye could see and punched a fist through the knight's helmet. It burst into pieces at the force of the blow. Anthony hurriedly moved to play another card from his hand, but Angau silenced him with a chop to the neck. The woman in the mask took another look at Barri, then, moving faster than what should have been possible slashed through her duel disk, destroying it in the process. Barri screamed as the device began to burn, and hurried to pull it off her arm. This distracted her, however, from the next move the woman made. She dashed towards Baldur…

...and slammed her sword into his gut up to the hilt.

He screamed in pain as the blade went in, but fell into total silence when the blade was pulled out. He slumped down as his lifeblood fell onto the sidewalk. Barri was stunned at what had just occurred, but eventually, she found her voice.

" _ **BAAAAAAAALLLDDUUUUUUUUURRRR!"**_

%\%\%\%\%\%

Remember when I mentioned that Natalie wasn't the only one who was going to go through some bad stuff? Yeah, this is what I meant. Farewell, Baldur, we hardly knew ye! To be honest, I'm still not sure how well I did in developing his character and detailing his death, but I knew that it was going to be more difficult than I realize. And of course, that means that there's one less Duelist in the bunch.

As for the whole incursion, I was worried on how I was going to balance it all. I wanted something that would alert the whole world to what was going on, while still only being a "beginning" to the ensuing chaos. Yes, the big bad is going to begin moving far more than he has so far. Will Rome survive all of this?

To be honest, probably not.

Moving onto other things, the Metal Man does indeed have a duel monster's deck, for reasons that will be explained near the end of the story. This archetype, the "Wonders" archetype, is all about "artifact counters" and the effects of the various craftsman who give them. The two main types of monsters are the "Crafter of Wonders," who include various famous blacksmiths and craftsman from mythology and on occasion popular media, such as Moradin, Hephaestus, Wayland the Smith and _maybe_ Perrin Goldeneyes. Still debating on that. The "Wielder of Wonders" monsters include famous heroes with even more famous weapons, such as Guan Yu, King Arthur, maybe Thor and Cu Chulainn. Pretty famous guys, right? Again, as for why he has that specific deck? That will be explained at the same time as the other revelation.

I've by now revealed five of the six elemental Symphonic Battlers (there will be more besides these six).

Light: Bon Jovi - Living on a Prayer

Dark: Dvorak's New World Symphony, 4th Movement

Fire:

Earth: Rossini's William Tell Overture, Finale

Wind: Scorpions - Rock You Like A Hurricane (Moment of Glory ver.)

Water: Crush 40 - Open Your Heart

As for the fire one, it's going to be another piece of classical music. Now, fire… fire… which one would that be…

And yes, the Metal Man specializes in doing the small things rather than the big things, because of the research needed to do said big things. I'd rather take a more realistic approach to his powers, just because I know how powerful all of that is in the Information Age. So, no randomly accessing computers and electric wires, only really do the simple stuff.

I know I have more to talk about, but honestly, I'm a bit tongue-tied with what I'm going to say. So, I'm probably just going to end this right here, and _maybe_ include everything else in an edit. Or the next chapter. Either way, it works. Thank you guys for your continued support, please give those reviews and keep on reading.

Thanks to all,

Critian Caceorte


	15. Chapter 15: The Master of the Mystery

_**A/N Notes:**_ I am deeply sorry for not posting a new chapter in a while. I've been dealing with a lot of new assignments recently, and have just been told that the big project I was working on is actually due a month earlier than I thought. Joy, oh joy. Still, I intend to keep this fanfic going, and I still have plenty of stuff planned out. Keep reading, dedicated viewers. You've earned it.

 _ **Outside the Twin's Apartment/April 7th, 2010/1:56 PM**_

 **(Cue Fire Emblem Awakening OST -** _ **Withdrawing (Death Theme)**_ **)**

No sound was made. No one could believe it. No one wanted to believe it, except maybe the red-haired man who watched all of this with a smile. He began to chuckle as Barri herself felt tears rolling down her face. And as Barri stood up to face him, a look of death on her face, he could not help but break out into open laughter. She quickly ran to beat the crap out of the man who had killed her brother, but was interrupted when the man was suddenly knocked back. For that man had made a terrible error when he ordered his slave to commit the crime.

He forgot to look for anyone else tied to the boy.

 _ **Just a minute earlier…**_

Fortunato ran hard. The Metal Man told him that Baldur was in trouble, but he couldn't believe it. Baldur? His friend for all those years? How could he be involved with all of this? But still, he ran. And that's when he saw it.

A quick flash of a blade.

A sword in the gut.

The terrible scream of a mourning sister.

The sadistic laughter of a greater bastard than he ever was.

Giacomo was many things.

Forgiving was not one of them.

 **(Cue Fire Emblem Awakening OST -** " _ **Don't Speak Her Name!"**_ **)**

After a few moments contemplating this situation, his primal instincts kicked in, and he threw his knife with all the power he could put in it. " _ **GREEN SUN NIMBUS FLARE!"**_ The man, not noticing the sudden strike, was blown away by the power of the explosion. As he got up, he noticed that his body's natural regeneration was fighting hard to overcome some new disease. Having seen a few other fellow servants, he knew it was because of that boy's power. He sneered as he looked up at Fortunato, whose eyes glowed with infernal magic. The boy growled as he pulled out his card, which glowed brass instead of the usual green.

" _This is IT! THE FINAL RELEASE! In the name of a bleak future, you have awakened a beast you should not have: A TRUE DYSTOPIA! Anima Release! Infernal Monster Form! PERFECTION OF THE GREEN SUN!_ _ **EXALT!"**_

A drastic change occurred. While still the same person physically, An aura burst out of Fortunato, which encased him in the appearance of a terrible beast of old. His sharp fingertips seemed to have become claws the size of the knives he threw. Outwardly, he seemed to grow more fur which burned with green flame. His face distorted until it had shaped itself into that of a sickly, berzerk sabretooth tiger. He growled as his body expanded, making his nearly 2 meters tall height reach past that. He roared in rage, his vision going red as his mind constantly reminded him of the tragedy that had just occurred.

Angau watched all of this with a smirk. _Now, that's a monster that's almost worth my time._ He crouched into a combat stance as the beast who was once known as Giacomo Ferrari charged at him. The beast, however, did not sense the large amounts of power now emanating from the man in front of him. It did not concern him, really. He raised his arms above his head, then slammed them down onto the concrete where Angau had stood. As he saw the power behind that blow, his smile expanded. _Wow, that would have destroyed a normal man! #$ & that gun twirling nonsense, when you get down to it, _this _is where it's at._ He of course did not consider his own gun enthusiasm and proficiency, but I guess he just preferred melee attacks.

Dazzling him with speed he wouldn't have figured the beast to possess, the monster dashed towards Angau, his claws scraping on the ground and creating sparks. Soon, they were alit with a green flame as it moved for an uppercut. Angau simple moved his head, then jabbed his fingers into the creature's gut. It howled in pain, then made to bite his head off. He somersaulted backwards to evade the threatening attack. Then, his left arm seemed to ripple as his hand gave way to the blade of a katana. Twirling the freshly-made weapon around, he leapt at the beast's head and shouted a fierce battle cry.

The monster saw this and dodged away from where the blade hit the pavement, however in doing so he gave away more ground than he should have. Angau pressed the attack, forcing the creature to give more and more ground trying to parry the quick blows. Growing desperate, the beast sidestepped and tried to land a decisive blow with his claws. Angau parried this act of desperation with his blade, then, with all the strength he could reasonably muster, punched the monster in the face with his other fist. The beast flew back a considerable distance, before crashing into a group of cars parked on the side of the road.

Angau dashed forward to meet the inevitable counterattack… but was soon dumbfounded when none came. The monster seemed to shrink as it transformed back into the lowly Giacomo. It took Angau a few moments to watch this, before yelling in frustration.

"OH COME ON! REALLY? You couldn't last THAT LONG? It took just one punch to knock you out!" He groaned as his anger melted into disappointment. "I feel like I've just been blue-balled. Grr, fine. Time to go see that girl-"

His sentence was interrupted by a high-speed punch to the face. He whirled around, to see… Giacomo, still unconscious on top of the cars. His eyes narrowed in suspicion. "I knocked you out. I know I did. So why…" Shaking his head, he picked up the youth and carried him in his arms. Walking to where Barri was, he stopped after being slammed in the back. He turned around, but like before, there was no one there. _That hit my back, so it couldn't have been the kid since he's asleep in my arms. So, who could have done that, and more importantly, how did they do it so fast?_

He began to jog towards his original destination, and as he did, he kept on being hit from some unknown source. It was constant, it was unpredictable, and, most worrisome of all, undetectable. _I should be able to at least see where the blows are coming from, but I'm getting nothing. Is the foe invisible? Hold on…_ His eyes glowed as heat vision began to register before him. Despite this supernatural power, he was still getting nothing, though he did make an observation. _Air temperature all around me is hotter than everywhere else… actually, by quite a lot. How did I not notice this before?_ He kept looking around, seeing nothing, before his military knowledge gave him a nice tidbit:

 _Friction creates heat, and, when approaching high air speeds, the air around the plane resists more and more, thus creating friction, thus creating heat. Therefore, in order to protect jet fighters against-_

He cut himself off. _Hold on. I think I've got it. If the air temperature around me is hotter than usual, and air resistance eventually leads to increase in heat…_ He stopped, trying to do mental calculations. _Bloody Hell, how fast is this thing going to create a_ noticeable _difference in air temp?!_ These thoughts, were, of course, rewarded by another punch, this one to the back of his knee. Gritting his teeth, he tried to not fall over after a blow to such an important place. He dropped Giacomo onto the ground, then his whole body began to ripple as spikes emerged from his skin. _If he's going to try and attack me, he's going to pay the price for doing so!_

This, however, did not seem to deter his attacker in the slightest. As he kept moving forward, he kept on getting it, and while he _knew_ the attacker was paying the price in blood, he still couldn't detect him. Something interesting, however, was noticed by his observant mind. The blows seemed to coming at him in faster intervals the closer he got to the girl. _Is whoever this is trying to protect her?_

The blows were getting to him. He was used to unexpected attacks, but this was a constant rain of invisible fists which he couldn't seem to detect. As the punches were getting to him, his face turned a brighter and brighter shade of red until he couldn't take it anymore. "SERVANT! TAKE HIM OUT!"

Which is when he noticed the elf's body, lying on the ground and covered in blood. She was still alive, as was obvious by the occasional twitching of her fingers, but most certainly knocked out. His eyes widened at the sight, then narrowed in dissapointment. _I know she's a rookie when it comes to her powers, but come on? How could she fall_ this _easily? She can warp reality, for crying out loud! This should have been a trivial matter-_

Fangs pierced the skin of his neck, and thankfully for him, instinct took over and he grabbed the creature now on his back, tossing him over his head. He was able to catch a quick glance at it's form, it was wearing black, that was for sure, before the man horse-kicked him in the head. Knocked back and turned over, Angau rubbed his head and now bloody neck. _Vampire. Something like a vampire. That has to be it_. He turned around, got back on his feet, then was mysteriously rewarded with a look at his until now invisible attacker.

He wore what strangely seemed to be a black sleeveless _buff-jacket_ , which covered part of his black exercise pants. His feet were bare, thought he wore studded leather biker gloves on his hands. He wore a coal-black scarf (by now, you can sense the theme) which covered his mouth and part of his nose. One end flapped in the wind, while the other was weighed down by a gold chain, the only other color in his outfit, which attached to a belt more designed for style rather than purpose. Despite the obvious strangulation such a piece of neckwear should have been doing to him, he gave off no signs of discomfort. His arms were folded as his black hair danced in the wind along with the scarf. _I could have sworn there wasn't supposed to be any high winds today,_ thought Angau. The most startling feature about this young man, besides the deathly pallor which graced his skin, was his eyes. Or lack of such. In place of them were shadows which seemed to ooze out of his eye sockets. On his forehead was a black circle which glowed red with power.

The figure turned towards Angau, an angry look on his face. Angau stared back at him in confusion, before eventually recognizing the man's face. _# %$._ The figure strode towards him as his outline began to blur. He vibrated more and more until he began to leave after-images in his place. As he approached, closer and closer, Angau clenched his fists. _Why is he showing himself to me? Is he that confident in his abilities?_ When he was eventually within Angua's reach, he pulled out a black card from his pocket and finally spoke in a hushed, but infuriatingly familiar voice, though that voice had lost all emotion.

" _ **Dark Messiah Form. Exalt…"**_

 **(Cue** _ **Sono Chi No Sadame (**_ **Anime Song Orchestra ver.))**

With that said, his body became suffused with a black aura which seemed to _eat_ the light around him. He narrowed his eyes, before dissapearing from sight entirely.

He wasn't gone, however. Far from it.

Whatever blows Angau had suffered before, they were nothing compared the hits that were landing now. The punches seemed to have an edge to them now, which helped to slice into his skin. They were also reaching even faster speeds, which helped add weight to the blows. Force does equal mass times _acceleration_ , after all. What was even worse was that each hit seemed more _precise_ than before, if that was possible. _Well, crap. Looks like I'm going to have loose some of my limiters for this fight, or I won't be able to survive. And here I thought I could keep this stuff secret…_

As he lost ground, Angau could hear the youth's voice in his ear. " **What's the matter? I thought that you, the** _ **MASTER**_ **of these creatures would be able to do more harm to me."**

His eyes widened. _Wait… why did he put that emphasis on "Master"? Does he know who I really am? How-_

The man kept pressing the attack, but when he suddenly materialized in front of Angau, the brawler took the chance he had and punched the figure, only to reveal it's status as an afterimage. He soon felt a hand jam into his armpit, then he gasped in pain as said arm was _ripped out._ In desperation, he jumped away onto the top of a building. As the man watched him, he called to Angau.

" **I know you're holding back. Let us quit this farce. I think it's about time you're true form was revealed,** _ **Mahanmon."**_

 **(Pause Theme)**

Time seemed to pause, as Angau stared at the youth in shock. Then, his eyes narrowed in careful consideration.

"How do you know that name?"

The young man snapped his fingers, and suddenly Angau's vision changed. The world looked sort of like it usually did, but seemed… distorted somehow. That wasn't important, however. What was important was the fact that the kid seemed to be surrounded by what seemed to be… ghosts?

"What-"

" **My name is Woe, Avenger of the Desecrated Grave. It is my duty to bring justice for the dead. Do you really suppose that talking with the ghosts of your victims was beyond me? Indeed, they flock to me, knowing that their chance at revenge has come to this Earth. That isn't the full part of it, however. Look at yourself."**

He did so, and to his astonishment could see his true self lingering beneath the translucent outline of his current form.

" **That same sight which allows me, and right now you, to see spirits also allows one to pierce illusions. Admittedly your's is a bit more physical, hence how you can still see it. As for your true name, well, you really do like to talk when you're ending someone's life slowly, don't you?"**

With that, the vision ended, and Angau's sight returned to normal. He scowled at the youth before him, then he held out his remaining arm. The figure watched him as he did so, then nodded as he began to speak.

"Angau… _**Digivolve to…"**_

 _ **The Hidden Hideout/2:13 PM**_

" _ **AAH! So that's the secret behind his power…"**_

"I'm afraid you're going to have to explain it to me. What is he doing?"

" _ **He's a Digimon! Or, at least, some form of Digital entity. You know the creatures we've summoned so far? He comes from the place they originally resided in, along with that little boy with the goat horns. Which helps explain his superhuman abilities, because he's not**_ **human."**

 _ **The Battlefield, near the Hotel/That same time…**_

Silber and the other girls turned their heads in Barri's direction after sensing a large spike in energy. The worry was evident on Silber's face as she flew towards her location.

 _Barri, what have you gotten into?_

 _ **The Streets, near the Apartment/2:15 PM**_

He transformed, his body morphing as clusters of data surrounded him. His skin turned magenta as all the hair on his head and beard fell away. He grew several inches as his muscles expanded. From where he was missing his arm, a large ring of flesh emerged and floated beside him. From that ring, weapons of all types emerged. The ring began to spin at rapid rates as the newly discovered digimon cried out his name.

" _ **...MAHANMON!"**_

" **Hmph, he's arrived."**

The Digital Entity looked down at Woe with a snarl. " _I was hoping to keep this secret of mine safe, and you just reveal it for all the world to know? Have you no style? No sense of drama?"_

" **What is the point of lies to the dead? They already despair in their lack of life, what use is there for misleading them? They turn in their graves, mourning for their loss, so why should they try and deny the reality around them?"**

" _Well, at least you know poetry it seems."_

 **(Resume Theme)**

With that, they were off. Mahanmon jumped down onto the ground, impacting the concrete with the force of the blow. Jumping into the air, he landed on his rotating ring and began to spin along with it, while blades popped out of his outstretched feet and hand. Reaching amazingly fast speeds, he cried out: " _ **Cirque De Sade!"**_ Woe saw this, and as the black aura returned to view, it covered his arm, which he used to block the spinning blades. With his other hand, he slashed into Mahanmon's torso, data leaking out where the sharp fist landed. However, the wounds soon healed, and Woe temporarily found himself on the defensive. As he thought within his mind, two mental voices seemed to emerge. His own, and… one other.

 _ **Fast Regen. Decent Speeds. Biological Weapon Creation. Your Thoughts?**_

 _He's been exposed against his will. He's not going to be thinking straight. If we go faster, we can probably grab on his body, then smash his head. Think that will work?_

 _ **He's not human, but it might. Anything to rid the world of yet another living entity.**_

 _Didn't we agree to only kill the criminals? We share a mind, you know?_

 _ **...As you wish.**_

Moving at even faster speeds, Woe leaped at the Digimon. Grabbing him with his legs, he launched a series of quick blows to Mahanmon's head. The monster leaped back onto his feet, knocking him off, but not before he jabbed two fingers into one of Mahanmon's eyes. Howling in pain, the Digimon began to fire from his spinning ring, launching a sea of bullets in Woe's direction. He merely stood there and barely moved as the bullets pierced his flesh all around him.

 _Woah, wait, what? Shouldn't those bullets be hurting more?_

 _ **We're dead.**_

 _Oh yeah, forgot about that._

Woe moved towards the shooter, his visage once more distorting into after images before a startled Mahanmon found his opponent right in his face. Woe slammed a fist into his jaw with sudden devastating force, all the while shouting " _ **RAVAGING BLOW!"**_ The impact was so great, that Mahanmon's neck almost snapped, and he grunted in pain as he grabbed his head and turned it back to it's original position. He ran to charge at the dead man, but once more fell for the after image trick and collided into a building. Spotting Woe again, he repeated his charge, but stopped after hearing a loud cry.

" _ **MAHANMON! ENOUGH!"**_

Slithering into the light of the sun was the shadow dragon, it's body coiling around itself. Gesturing with his head, he wanted Mahanmon to move closer. He obeyed, and as he did, the dragon spoke.

" _ **We're pulling back. You are in no shape to fight, and our leader needs you at your best for the time to come. I'll transport you on my back."**_

He hopped on, still scowling at his fight being interrupted. The dragon ascended into the air, then sped towards their hidden base. Woe watched them as they did this, then nodded before dashing off to another destination.

A scene of devastation, of fire and ruin. And only one girl remained to witness it. Looking at the destroyed duel disk next to her, then staring at the battlefield before her, she began to cry from pent-up emotion. These were not tears of sorrow, but neither were they tears of joy. They were the tears of a little girl who had no idea what was going on.

 _Baldur, what happened to you?_

%\%\%\%\%

Woe has come to the people of Rome. His speed is unrivaled, his strength is mighty.

Unfortunately, his social skills suck, and his mental skills are average at best. So while he's great at killing things, he literally can't do anything else. He's just not qualified for it. So expect to get into a lot of arguments with people. He is this fic's version of Hiei, essentially. Actually, now that I think about it, the comparison works pretty well.

As for Angau, yep, he's a Digimon named Mahanmon. Who is Mahanmon? Well, he has an… _interesting_ history with the digital world, back when he was at full power. Obviously, full power this is not. As for inspiration for the name, I suggest you read the wikipedia article on one "Master Mahan". Pretty interesting.

And thus, we discover Fortunato's great weakness: You can break him like a straw. Sure he's fast and powerful, but when one punch can often take you out, that's not saying for much. Woe is also a bit lacking in the Stamina department, but he's dead. He doesn't really need it _that_ much.

That's all for now, and once again I apologize for such a late upload. As previously mentioned, I've had a lot going on, so I didn't have much time for writing. Please send your reviews, and please: If you have any questions, I am more than willing to answer them.

Thank you, and have a good night,

Critian Caceorte


	16. Chapter 16: More Fun than a Barrel of?

_**A/N:**_ Time to check the reviews!

Ford: Dragon? Um… don't know how you got that, he's definitely humanoid, if I had to put him in a Digimon category, it would probably be Demon, Demon Lord, something like that. A dragon this thing is not. Maybe you're confusing him with the Ebon Dragon, you know, the thing the villain has been conversing with? He was evacuating him and the Elf, so maybe you just got him confused.

That's it for the reviews, now onto the story!

 _ **A Dreamland/April 7th, 2010/5:00 PM**_

 _He ran across the swamped grasslands, the cold grass blades tickling his feet. The trees surrounded him, their tall limbs and red leaves providing shade from the hot red sun. Instinctively, he avoided the various bushes along the path, for they held toxins even his body could not withstand. He stopped his run when he heard a branch snap behind him. Looking around, he saw golden eyes within the darkness, watching his every move. He froze in fear as those eyes slowly approached. His eyes began to tear up as he soon realized the danger he was in. He cried in desperation as those eyes revealed the beasts attached to them._

" _ **MOMMA!"**_

 _The creatures pounced. He ran to get away from them, occasionally looking over his shoulder to see the monsters catching up to him. They resembled huge wolves, but they were covered in snake scales. The tails were like the bodies of serpents, and indeed, a snake head covered the end of them. Steam whistled out of their nostrils as they growled in their frustration. However, he forgot to look ahead as he slammed into the trunk of a tree. The impact disoriented him enough for the wolves to make their move. However, someone else had other plans._

 _A chain flew threw the air and slammed into the side of one of the wolves. The others immediately noticed and growled towards their attacker's direction. This was a poor move, however, as it left them to be struck by the pass of another chain. The first wolf began to howl in pain as the wound it suffered began to fester immediately and, indeed, rot his still living body. The other wolves were no less affected by this strange phenomenon. They began to retreat back into the depths of the woods (a pointless action, actually, as the toxin would already kill them within minutes). He saw the person who saved him approaching along the path. Crying now in joy, he ran towards his mother._

 _She was a tall humanoid feline, her face obviously based on a cougar's. Along her body, in whatever areas were not covered in deep brown leather armor, were green stripes which glowed with power. She walked on her hindpaws barefooted, her long tail swaying back and forth, and in her hands she carried two long metal chains which were covered in rust and had some sort of odd purple sheen. As she saw her son running towards her, the scowl on her face melted as she dropped the chains to embrace her child. Tears came from both parties at the joy they felt after seeing the other safely. As they hugged, he asked her something._

" _Mommy, why are you a cat now?"_

 _His mother looked at him and a nervous look appeared on her face. "Um, do you not like this look? I can go back to my usual one if you want." With that, her body began to ripple, but he held up his hand._

" _No, that's okay Mommy. You'll always be Mommy to me, no matter."_

 _After hearing those words, her crying began to resume post haste, all the while stroking her son's back. Such a lovely scene…_

...interrupted by a bucketful of water to the face.

Giacomo woke up, sputtering as the cold water chilled him and his clothes to the bone. Looking around to see who had done this, he saw Lily holding the now empty bucket, the exasperation on her face evident.

"C'mon, how long were you going to sleep? We have stuff to do!"

Rubbing his eyes, he looked around him. They were in Merlin's dojo. Maria sat in a chair, caring for Davimon, who was awake, if weakly stirring, on top of a table. Joseph was at another table, taking a look at the burns on Barri's arms. Her destroyed duel disk sat beside her. Meanwhile, Merlin was looking through his book, for any information he could find on the enemy. There was a sense of comradery amongst the group, as each did their best to do _something_ to help. Giacomo took this all in, then looked sharply at Barri, who had a sullen expression on her face.

"Where is Baldur?"

She winced, as the rest of the group turned to look at her. She eventually shook her head, and lied as she said, "I don't know. I looked away to watch your guys' fight, and then his body wasn't there anymore."

The group nodded when they heard this, but Giacomo's face still showed signs of doubt. "What about the elf that was with him?"

"Elf?" questioned Merlin.

"Oh yes, the elf!" exclaimed Lily. "I fought with her for a bit before she ran away."

Merlin's eyes narrowed. "Describe this 'elf' to me."

"Well, I couldn't see her face because of the mask she wore-"

"What kind of mask?"

"It was a round, blank mask, like the kind you would see in theatres."

Merlin stared at her for a moment, before frantically searching through his book. When he found what he wanted, he showed it to her. "Like this?"

"Yes, that's it."

Merlin mulled on this new information, before slamming his fist down and swearing loudly. Everyone looked at this with some surprise. While they didn't doubt that Merlin had ever sworn before, it was probably a rare experience.

"What is is?" said Joseph.

Merlin looked at him, his eyes showing his mental fatigue. "Our world is now on a time limit."

"WHAT?!" shouted the rest of the group.

"That mask is a Nishkriya mask. It is a reality-warping weapon of destruction. The only group who could have access and could use such a mask… are the Fair Folk. And they are only created in an extremely chaotic environment called the Wyld. If the Wyld exists here, and I desperately hope that it doesn't, then it will slowly overtake our world before nothing remains. Not even rock and soil."

"How do you know this?" questioned Maria.

"Because what he just described is the very same situation Creation, the origin of the Exaltation, is in." This time it wasn't Merlin who said this, but a voice coming from the back of the dojo.

Everyone looked to the back, where a man in blue armor stepped through a portal. No one recognized this newcomer except for Merlin and Joseph. Merlin was the first to call out.

"Sansion! You're back?"

"Indeed I am, and all the better for it. I had to deal with so many officials and rules-junkies it doesn't even merit a laugh."

Contrary to what he said, Maria and Lily giggled at his apt description. The sorcerer stared at the two of them with fading patience, before introducing himself.

"My name is Sansion the Savant. I am a Sidereal Exalt, much like Merlin here, though I am a Chosen of Endings. My specialty is Sorcery, and, as seems to be the case, watching over this group. I've been away for the past few days dealing with red tape of the highest level so that I could proceed with our actions against the enemy. Now that the introductions are out of the way, (and yes, I already know who all of you are), permit me to continue my explanation."

"Creation is in a state of doomsday, one that the general populace sadly denies. Even some of my fellow Sidereals share in this deny of the obvious. The Wyld is an extremely dangerous place. It causes mutations that you can't even imagine, and does it's absolute best to utterly destroy the laws of physics. It _is_ chaos, and nothing can stop it's inevitable approach. By my reckoning, however, your world will not truly need to fear it for at least several millennia. However, I am still angry about this inevitable descent into literal madness."

"Why?"

"Because if it wasn't for the Dawn of Chaos event (and I still find it strange that it seems to be at the center of this entire mess) the world's dimensional wall's wouldn't be weak enough to allow in the seeping of the Wyld, or it's twin, the Warp. If I ever find that prophesying duo existing _anywhere_ , I'm going to string their necks…"

The group remained silent after hearing this oath. _What duo does he refer to?_ Thought Merlin.

"In any case, we can get back to that matter eventually. Right now we need to focus on Woe's emergence."

"Woe?" asked Lily. "As in the emotion?"

"You would think so, but no. This Woe is Woe, Avenger of the Desecrated Grave, a messiah figure of sorts, if the one who needed to be redeemed were the undead. He emerged to fight Angau after he knocked you out, Giacomo, and was actually quite successful, so much so that to even survive Angau had to reveal his true form."

"True form?" asked Merlin.

"In reality, he was a Digimon who had taken human form by the name of Mahanmon-"

Davimon stood up as fast as lightning. "MAHANMON?!"

"...Yes, is he famous?"

"He…" Davimon stumbled on his words as he tried to explain. "He was the head... 'researcher' for the Digital God of Evil, Valmarmon. He 'researched' new ways to torture and kill both people and Digimon. I thought he was gone, but if he's still around…" he shook his head. "This is getting bad, really quick."

Elsewhere, someone else was contemplating the same revelation…

 _ **Somewhere Else/That Moment…**_

" _ **You seem to be thinking about something."**_

"I'm questioning why Angau didn't reveal his identity to us, his employers."

" _ **Well, to be fair, the interview with him didn't take too long."**_

 _ **Flashback to several months prior…**_

Angau and the mastermind sat at a table, with Angau in his best clothes and interviewer in the shadows.

"Angau…yes?"

He nodded his head. "Indeed sir."

"Well, Angau, since you're applying for the position of assassin, I'm going to be blunt. How many people have you killed?"

Angau thought about this, thinking out loud as he did so. "How many people have I killed… How many people have I killed?" He looked up at the interviewer. "Define 'people.'"

The interview steepled his fingers together, a classic villainous pose. " _Eeexxcellent."_

 _ **Back to the Present…**_

"Shut up you."

" _ **Look, Ivory, it's your own fault that you didn't properly question him when you hired the guy. Now we're just going to have to learn about him on the fly."**_

"I know, I know, I'm aware of the fact." He sighed. "Well, looks like we'll just have to go with the flow."

 _ **Back at the Dojo…**_

Davimon filled the group in on the legend of Granasmon and Valmarmon. Sansion nodded as he heard this.

"Valmarmon was resurrected and defeated last year, correct?"

"Yeah, in Japan."

Sansion thought for a moment, before continuing on. "Do you think his resurrection was what brought Mahanmon back from wherever he was?"

Now it was Davimon's turn to think. "There's a good chance, actually. I mean, we don't know how much time Angau has spent in Rome, so it's a possibility he was resurrected along with Valmarmon."

Joseph cut in. "I hate to cut into this conversation, but there's something we still haven't done."

"And what is that?"

"A plan for a counter-attack. We can't just take this lying down. We have to push back against the enemy, or else they won't be afraid of us anymore. Fear is a powerful thing in war, it's something that can keep you alive."

Sansion agreed. "Indeed, we need a plan. Luckily, while I was waiting for the aforementioned red tape to be dispersed, I was able to come up with a plan, or at least, the first step of a plan."

The group looked at him, urging him to continue on. He did so. "In the face of an enemy like this, we're going to need to split up. We need to cover a lot of ground, and I'm afraid this is the only way."

Joseph, being quite familiar with strategy, was skeptical of this plan, but he allowed Sansion to continue.

"We know that the enemy is using some sort of spell to summon those Digital Chimeras to Earth. Unfortunately, I can't in any way counter those spells unless I know what effect the spell has on _both sides_. Thus, I need Lily, Maria and Davimon to go to the Digital World to study the effects of that spell."

Maria and Davimon nodded, but Lily looked confused. "Why me?"

"Silber is a Lunar Exalt. The wilderness is her domain, and as it just so happens, from what little I know of the Digital World, it's mostly wilderness."

"That's right." Davimon affirmed. "There are of course villages scattered about, but with the exception of my hometown and I believe the Central Domain, it's mostly wilderness."

Sansion continued. "Joseph, I need you to protect the citizens here and rally them against the monsters."

"Already doing that."

"Barri, I need _you_ to confront Woe."

She looked astonished. "Wait, me?"

"Believe it or not, I do believe Woe has some connection with Baldur's disappearance. It is my hypothesis that he grabbed him to raise as one of his undead servants."

There was another, hidden message to his words. As he stared intently at her, Barri could have sworn he spoke to her in her head.

 _I'll maintain the lie you have constructed, but I'm afraid you must deal with the situation._

"If I were to suggest an idea with how to confront him, try the time-honored method of a duel."

"But, what if he doesn't know how to play?"

He looked at her, then deadpanned. "He'll learn." Then he moved onto Merlin. "Merlin, you and I are going to go visit a certain guardian of Space and Time."

Lily's eyebrows shot up. "Wait, like Doctor Who?"

Now it was Lily's turn to be on the receiving end of Sansion's sarcasm."If the Doctor was secretly Sailor Pluto, then yes."

This caused the group to gasp. "Wait," Joseph said, " _Sailor Pluto?_ As in, one of the Sailor Senshi? You know her?"

"Yes, yes, I know her. We keep in touch. I have some things I need to explain to Merlin here and the lady of planet Pluto will be most helpful in this case. She's the closest I've got to a Sidereal without being one herself. And besides, it's been awhile since I've last visited."

Giacomo piped up. "What about me?"

Sansion seemed he was trying to remember something. "Yes, Giacomo… what was I going to have you do…" Then he snapped his fingers as he remembered. "Ah, yes! That was it!" He pulled a letter from, well, who-knows-where and handed it to him. "I need you to deliver this message."

"Okay… to who?"

"King Koenma."

There was a pause, before Giacomo exploded.

"Wait, WHAT?! You want me, a half-demon hybrid, to try and get a message through _SPIRIT WORLD BUREAUCRACY._ Are you SERIOUS? Do you know how long it took me just to get my I.D. ? I was out for _months_ trying to get all of that done. The _human_ governments work faster than that! And you expect me to just hand a message to the king, who, I might add, as only recently risen to power and thus probably has even _tighter_ security? What kind of drugs are you doing?"

A new victim for Sansion's wit. "The kind that allow me to plan ahead. Look Giacomo. I know it takes a long time. I'm a Sidereal. I can manipulate Fate. I can promise you that the time the letter takes to get to the king will be expedited. Besides, I don't need you to stick around to make sure the letter gets to him. I'm actually going to need you to help Barri eventually when it comes to Woe. So don't worry about losing hairs over this."

Giacomo shook his head, exasperated. "Fine, if you say so. I hope you're right."

"I'm going to be creating portals for all of you to travel through. That should help lower the time required, but I'm only going to be making them when all of you are fully prepared. It's quite draining to maintain them, so I'm going to be closing them immediately after you go through. You have the rest of the day and tomorrow to get your things. We'll leave tomorrow night."

The group split up to gather their things. As they scrambled to get home, Davimon stayed behind to continue his conversation with Sansion.

"So, Davimon, I have a question."

"What is it?"

"Do you might know what Mahanmon was based on? I've heard that Digimon are often based on mythical and historical figures, and I was wondering if you knew where he came from…"

The little guy stared upwards in thought. "I think I have something about that written down somewhere in our apartment. If you want, I can hurry and-"

 _ ***Snap!***_

He found himself in said apartment. He looked in wonder, seeing the familiar sights, before staring at Sansion, who merely said, "Sorcerer, remember?"

"Oh yeah. Anyways, it should be written somewhere around here…" he dove into a pile of books situated in one corner of the room, and it was a few moments before he rose out of the mess, waving a notebook in one hand. "FOUND IT!"

"You should probably clean up that mess with the books, it's not a safe thing to have around."

"Look, do you want me to tell you what I found, or not?"

"Very well then, continue."

Davimon opened the notebook, turned to a specific page before reading his notes out loud. "Master Mahan, a title given to Cain after he killed his brother Abel according to Mormon theology. The etymology of the name gives several definitions, such as 'great one', 'destroyer' or 'mind'. See Book of Moses, Chapter 5, Verses 29 to 31." He pulled out a Pearl of Great Price, to Sansion's wonder.

"How many religious books do you have?"

"Not that much, just the Bible, the Qu'ran, the Torah, the Bhagavad Gita, books on the myths of the Egyptians, the Greeks, the Norse, the Irish, the Chinese-"

"You sir, have a problem."

"Says the guy with fire for eyes."

"...Touché."

"To summarize, essentially Cain got mad at Abel, so Satan told him to promise him that he would create a secret murder-cult, and if he did Satan would would help Cain kill Abel. Right before he did this, he referred to himself by his new title of 'Master Mahan'. This title would be passed down through the generations by his descendants and said murder-cults, until it eventually faded into the wastes of history."

"But obviously, it left it's mark."

"Correct, I have no way to verify the information, it is a religious book after all, but just the fact that the persona of Mahan was _created_ lends support to the idea of where Mahanmon came from."

Sansion thought for a few moments. "Wait… if the mere act of thinking it into creation can be enough to create a digimon version of it, what about characters from other universes? Can they have a digital incarnation?"

Davimon looked at him blankly. "Sir, if that's the case… there's a _lot_ of inspiration out there in the universe, and most of it ain't good."

Sansion nodded, then waved goodbye. "Well, I think that's enough food for thought. See you tomorrow evening."

"Wait, why did you-"

 _ ***SNAP***_

And with that, he dissapeared. Davimon grumbled under his breath as he moved to collect his stuff. "Honestly, he could stick around longer than that. He can't just ask all the questions…" the rest faded into inaudible noises as he made progress on his task.

 _ **The Digital World…**_

He wandered the woods, appreciating the beauty while still contemplating on his predicament. His feet walked the branch-covered paths with silent, but sure, large abomination strung around his shoulder which had once been called "a sheath" carried all of his swords, of which there were many, in a haphazard fashion. The nearby brambles caught on his dull grey robe as he strided along, yet ruined not a thread on the old garment. He sighed as the thoughts in his head grew pessimistic.

 _How many years have I wandered? How many Digimon have I seen? How much have I done, and yet still I do not remember my past?_ He sighed out loud. _Everything seems to be like a mirror covered in mist: nothing is clear, but there's just enough visible for me to question everything that I've experienced. Oh Gods of this World, why must you curse me so?_

As he brooded, he heard the snap of a branch come from his left. Swerving around, he tumbled over the brambles to the right of the path and crouched down to hide his body. He could hear quiet, but still audible hoots and hollers coming from the opposite side of the trail. As his eyes looked around, a shuriken landed right by the heel of his feet. He whirled around to see what looked to be a monkey in orange ninja gear, chuckling with his hand in front of mouth to stifle the sound. Narrowing his eyes, he leapt at the primate, who dissapeared in a cloud of smoke. When the smoke cleared, he saw various other monkeys in similar, if differently colored, garb surrounding him. In front, behind, to the left and right… he was trapped within a ring of apes (albeit ones with tails). He pondered this moment as he observed this phenomenon.

 _Ninjamonkimon. All the skills of a ninja, but without any of the honor, or, for that matter, the intelligence. I see some of their digivolutions here as well, including,_ he stared at one monkey who wore white robes over his ninja gear, _if I am not mistaken, a DaimyoNinjamonkimon. A stupidly long name, and a stupidly weak Mega-level. This should not require more than two styles._

Breaking the silence, he finally called out. "Who are you, and what would you do with me? There is a village I would rather reach before sundown." In truth, he already knew who they were, and could guess at what they wanted.

The leader replied, his voice like that of a traditional schoolyard bully. "I am DaimyoNinjamonkimon, the leader of this group. We are the Ninjamonkimon clan, and as for what we want," he sneered underneath his mask, "give us your money, or your life!"

He scoffed at this demand. "I have no money, and have no _need_ for any money. As for my life, I am afraid that taking requires an _upfront cost."_ He lifted the hood of his robe off of his head, revealing a silver-scaled draconian snout. He took the weapon holster off of his shoulder, then snapped his fingers, and lo and behold, it vanished into thin air. His hands now free, he moved his body into a familiar stance. "My name is Artedramon, a master of martial artes. And even in my old age, I can still remove plenty of idiots from this world!"

The leader's smirk transformed into a scowl. "Honestly, why does everyone think we're idiots? Ninjamonkimon, ATTACK!"

The monkeys leapt, feet stretched out, ready to kick the old dragon in the head. He simply bent his back backwards, then grabbed the leg of one of the monkeys. " _ **Setting Sun Style: Mighty Throw!"**_ He threw the monkey into a tree, knocking him out. Dashing towards another, he created an illusionary blade next to outstretched fingers, then made for a jab. " _ **Shadow Hand Style: Shadow Blade Technique!"**_ Both the illusion and the hand hit, leaving a coating of ice on the now unconscious ninja. The leader of the group soon noticed Artedramon making various hand gestures, similar to his own ninjutsu. Watching the movements, he read: _Shadow Hand Style: Cloak of Deception._ Straightaway, the dragon dissapeared. As the group of ninjas looked for him, a monkey soon felt himself being lifted before being slammed down onto the ground, leaving a crater from the impact. A voice from nowhere called out:

" _ **Stone Dragon Style: Mountain Hammer!"**_

 _I know I said only two styles, but truthfully I wish to be rid of this band of hooligans as quickly as possible._

As he returned to view, the leader leapt at him, hoping to land an oppurtunistic strike, but was astonished to see the dragon pull a dagger and a kukri out of nowhere and duplicate his own jump! Planting his two weapons in the leaders neck, he shouted: " _ **Tiger Claw Style: Leaping Wolf Fang Strike!"**_ He then pushed off the now dead leader's body to perform a midair somersault before landing perfectly onto the ground. He surveyed the remainder of the terrified group, who stared at him in horror before climbing the trees and running across their limbs to retreat.

Nodding, he pulled his holster from the subspace area he kept it in and sheathed the dagger and kukri. Putting the annoyingly large leather contraption on his other shoulder, he walked back onto the path and journeyed on his merry way, but not before growling in pain from a pulled back muscle.

 _I really am getting old, aren't I?_

%\%\%\%\%\%

Thus ends Chapter 16, the Introduction of the final member of this party, Artedramon! For those of you confused on the different "styles" he used, they are four of the nine styles which comprise the Sublime Way, Wizards of the Coast's attempt to appeal to the Weaboos who lived among DnD roleplayers. They include Desert Wind, a fast-paced fire-based assault style, Devoted Spirit, your traditional Paladin skills wrapped into one package, Diamond Mind, a style which translates "mind over matter" literally, Iron Heart, owner of the most broken maneuver in the game (Iron Heart Surge) and general devotee of masochism, Setting Sun, your traditional supernatural judo style, Shadow Hand, ninja ninja ninja ninja ninja, Stone Dragon, which is based around balance to make your moves more powerful, Tiger Claw, a style which epitomizes everything that is Wolverine, and finally, White Raven, more of a "command style" than anything and proud owner of the _second_ most broken maneuver in the game: White Raven Tactics.

Now, does this mean Artedramon is going to use the Legendary **Five-Shadow Creeping Ice Enervation Strike**? Well… we'll see.

Sansion is finally introduced to the group, and now the heroes have at least the basis for a plan of attack. Time to go on the offensive. And, yes, for those of you wondering, I do have permission from the author to have these sort of interactions between my group and the other aspects of the Y.Y.G.D.M. world. Some of you might wonder why I would even need to get permission in the first place, well, to be honest, I just prefer to have it than to not. Blame it on my childhood, if you want.

We also get to see a memory of Giacomo's childhood, and of his mother. Don't worry, this won't be the last time he does some reflecting on his past.

For those of you who didn't get it, Angau's line "Define 'people'" is a reference to Marena from _Keychain of Creation_ , a webcomic taking place within the Exalted Setting (hey, I have to include _some_ references to the fandom every now and then, don't I?) To give an explanation for the origins of the line, Marena (a social-based Lunar Exalt) tends to… get it on… with just about EVERYTHING. So, when one of her teammates asks her how many people she's had sex with, she replies with the above line. Pretty hilarious, huh?

Oh yes, that reminds me! The Villain finally has a name! No longer will he be a Voldemort clone, being referred to as "He-Who-Has-Not-Been-Named"! Just to fill in the rest, his full name is Ivory Stained With Sin, or, I guess, ISWS, if you're into acronyms and that sort of stuff.

In any case, that should just about wrap things up. Please keep sending those reviews, I love to hear feedback on my work, and keep reading, faithful viewers!

Best of Wishes,

Critian Caceorte


	17. Chapter 17: A Look into Past and Future

_**A/N:**_ No reviews this time, but one thing I just wanted to clarify, for those of you (many of you, probably), who didn't know who the Ebon Dragon was. He is _not_ the card or whatever from Magic: The Gathering, he is one of the 5 main Primordials in Exalted. The Primordials are interesting creatures, as they are the only beings with _multiple souls_ , which gives them multiple personalities and bodies. That's what demons are in Exalted, they are just an offshoot soul of one of the Primordials, and that's exactly what the "Ebon Dragon" in this story is: An offshoot soul who just so happens to be closer in appearance and personality to the Primordial he comes from, though there are still some differences. Another interesting fact about Primordials is that they are what they are named. The Ebon Dragon is an ebon-black dragon, Malfeas _is_ the City of Malfeas (while simultaneously being the Green Sun which provides the city with it's light), Cecylynne the Endless Desert _is_ the actual desert, and so on.

Explanation over, time for the story!

 _ **The Dojo/The Next Day, April 8th, 2010/Late That Evening…**_

Packs were filled. Food and Water filled plastic containers. Necessary Equipment was gathered. The Time was at hand.

Joseph nodded as he saw everything that lay before him. _Decent Camping Equipment, Ten Essentials covered, enough food and water to last a few days… Hmm… I would have still preferred to have gotten Maria a decent weapon. Just because she has Davimon with her doesn't mean an enemy won't target her, far from it. Lily's going to have her hands full keeping track of her and looking out for attacks._

 _I still don't know why Sansion insists that Barri challenge that "Woe" entity to a duel. Why a duel specifically? Grr, I know when I'm being lied to, and that girl is hiding something. And I know it has something to do with her brother._

 _On the other hand, I'm feeling kind of sorry for Giacomo. Red tape is one of the worst possible things you can inflict on a man, and I'm not so trusting of Sansion's assurance that everything will flow smoothly._ Nothing _ever runs smoothly except executions and cheetahs._

 _And finally, there's me. Looking at the news, the government is getting into a huge panic over how they missed this thing, and honestly, I don't blame them. Still, it's going to make my job harder with how many bureaucrats are going to try and get in the way of decent military planning. Maybe I can start talking to some of the guys at the embassy. I doubt that they would just take this lying down._

"Contemplating the universe, Joseph?"

He turned around to see Sansion walking up to him. _I'm glad he hasn't been showing his face outside, that wouldn't be fun to deal with._ "Contemplating the Mission, actually. And my complaints about Maria's lack of a weapon still stand."

Sansion sighed. "Look, Joseph, I know you are a military man, and would rather trust surveillance reports than the ramblings of some televangelist, I understand that, and in any other situation that would make sense. But I am sure that Fate has taken an interest in Ms. Costa, and that she will not suffer any lasting harm."

Joseph's face contorted in anger, and he found his voice "But that is still _harm_. Look, Sansion... actually, why don't we cut the crap? Look, _Pierre,_ you know that you are tossing her into a literal lion's den! Why do you not want to prepare her properly?"

Sansion flinched at hearing the name. "I discarded that life… years ago…"

"Bull%& # ! Don't even start! I knew you when you were Pierre Richàrd, a lonely old mortician who just wanted to be left alone, but got thrust into new powers and a new life. I was the same, and now these guys are in the same kind situation that we were in! We went through it! We know what it's like! So why aren't we helping them as much as we can?"

The fire in Sansion's eye sockets exploded into an inferno. His breaking point had finally been reached. "WHAT DO YOU THINK I'M DOING? WHY DO YOU THINK THAT I'M TAKING MERLIN ALONG AT ALL?" The fire died down as he steadied his breath. "...I can't truly help anyone else because, in the end, there are far more differences among us than similarities. I'm a Sidereal, not a Lunar, not an Infernal, certainly not a Digimon… Merlin is closest thing I have to a brother in arms, and even then the differences are astounding. I'm a weak-muscled old man who can't even use magic to actually _fight_. He's an android from a futuristic society, and that's even before the powers he gains with the Exaltation! Imagine yourself being Harry Potter in his first year at Hogwarts, and then having to compare yourself to Neo from the Matrix. You know magic to a small degree, true, but he's able to manipulate the world around him and bend it to his will. All the while doing impossible backflips, impossible shots, many things that most men consider, well, impossible! It's disheartening, even when I'm his senior, at least in this superhero business, by twenty years.

"The worst part is, a part of me is perfectly fine with this. I think, _Well, at least I don't have to go on the frontlines like he does. I can just sit at home, being the coward I always wanted to be! And if I can do some magical research on the side, that's even better!_ "

Joseph stared at him, blank-eyed, before slapping his face. Sansion rubbed the slapped cheek, slightly red from the force of the blow. He looked at Joseph for an explanation, and after a moment he got one.

"You know, there's a difference between explaining your thoughts and feelings and putting yourself down. I'm starting to see where the 'morbid' stereotype comes from for your caste."

He put his arm around Sansion's, then said. "Look, I'm sorry I exploded like that. That wasn't mature of me, in fact it was stupid. I just needed some answers for my questions. But, really man, you need to work on that self-confidence of yours. Is this why you always act like you know everything? To keep up appearances?"

Sansion's face betrayed signs of surprise. "Wait, I'm _not_ always right?"

Joseph started growling, which worried Sansion enough to put up in his hands defensively. "I'm joking, just joking! I didn't mean to make you angry, I just… saw an opportunity, and I took it."

"Well," came a voice from the shadows, "I'm just glad your sense of humor isn't morbid."

The two whirled their heads around to see Merlin emerging from the dark corner he hid in. Joseph questioned him. "How much of that did you hear?"

"All of it, I'm afraid. I apologize for my deception, spywork is just a habit I developed while helping Cayleb with his intelligence network."

The name from nowhere confused Joseph. "Cayleb? Who's that?" Sansion, however, seemed to recall the name, albeit with difficulty. "He's… your old liege, correct?"

"And my best friend, if I were to truly have one. In any case, _Pierre_ ," Sansion flinched once more, "the others will be arriving any minute now."

And arrive they did. Maria came in first, along with Davimon, who was then followed by Lily and Giacomo, and finally Barri walked in through the door. Sansion nodded when he saw them stream in, and quickly regained his composure. He surveyed the group's equipment and supplies for the last time, before turning back to look at them.

"So, everyone is here. Good. Is there any last things that need to be taken care of before we all depart?"

Joseph shook his head. "I'm staying here, so I'm good."

Barri simply looked at her duel disk, a different one than the model she had before, then answered, "I think I'll be fine." _I wish my duel disk and my cards weren't destroyed. ...It's… going to be awkward playing with Baldur's deck…_

Giacomo growled, clearly irritated. His retort demonstrated as such. "Oh no, I'm perfectly fine. Totally prepared to waste years of my life trying to deliver a stupid _letter_." A quick angry glance from Sansion quickly shushed him.

Lily simply transformed into Silber, before a look of determination made it's way onto her face. "For Lee, some things must be done."

Maria and Davimon looked at each other, before nodding and answering at the same time: "We will succeed."

"Then that covers everything. Ladies, Gentlemen, sit still while I open the portals. Giacomo, you're going in first." Giacomo grabbed his stuff and walked up to Sansion, who began chanting in an unknown language for several seconds before a large distortion in space emerged. "It is done. Your destination awaits."

He then turned to Barri as Giacomo disappeared into the vortex. "Barri, I'm not going to taking you by portal, as I have another person coming who knows Woe's location and can take you there. I suggest you sit tight, like what Joseph is doing, while you wait." He then moved to Silber, Maria and Davimon, who were putting their hiking packs on. "You three are next." With that, he repeated the same process as before, with a slight variation in the words used, before a similar portal opened up, allowing them to pass through.

Finally, Sansion nodded to Merlin. "It is time for us to depart." Merlin nodded as the chant began again, and a third portal opened up. Together with the sorcerer, he walked on through…

...and found himself in a large home, with a low-legged tea table in front of him. Across it was a mature woman with green hair, sipping her tea with grace. As she put down the teacup, she looked over at Merlin and Sansion, before a light smile crossed her face and she said, "Sansion. It's been a while."

 _ **Outside of Merlin's Dojo/A few minutes later…**_

Sophia couldn't help her excitement.

It's not very often that someone in a cape comes along and tells you that "destiny has ordained a role for you to play," after all. And while, compared to most people, Sophia actually got a lot of that, it still always made her excited when it happened. Singer, on the other hand, was not excited. Unlike Sophia, she had actually listened to the man's full explanation, and thus knew that what they were about to do was quite risky.

It was time to awaken the beast.

Thankfully, cool shades were provided to the two of them for this event. You can't do anything heroic or "cool" without shades after all.

 **(Cue Corey Hart - I Wear My Sunglasses At Night)**

When they had gotten to the door, Barri walked out, duel disk attached to her arm. When she noticed the duo, she remembered Lily's description of them, and so, waved to them. "Are you two here for me?"

"Yes," said Singer, "Barri, wasn't it?"

"Yes, and you two are Sophia and…" Barri was drawing a blank. Singer just shook her head and held up her hand politely.

"Just call me Singer, my full name is too long for casual conversation."

Barri nodded when she heard this. "Very well then, um… Thank you for helping me out-"

Singer interrupted. "About that. Are you sure you want to go through with this? From what I was able to gather, Woe is not a nice guy, even if he's neutral in the grand scheme of things."

Barri looked at her oddly. "How were you able to get info on Woe? Even Sansion had trouble finding stuff out about the guy."

"Well, obviously, he's never had any experience with necromancy." With that, she summoned a ball of purple fire, which illuminated the onyx shards in her eye sockets. Barri, having not noticed this before, screeched. Teeth chattering, she pointed at this disturbing revelation.

"WHAT THE HELL? What-what-what is with your eyes?"

Singer sighed, before taking off her sunglasses. Barri stared, terrified at Singer's lack of eyeballs. Sophia just giggled upon seeing this, before taking off her own shades. "Don't worry, I still have my eyes. Though Singer still won't tell me where her's went."

Singer's face scrunched up in anger. "I'd rather not tell random people, thank you very much." She put her sunglasses back on before turning to Barri. "To continue my explanation, I just used necromancy to contact the spirits of the dead, though there was that one time I was yelled at by some weird official gals who kept threatening to send 'Spirit Detectives' after me or whatever. In any case, it was pretty easy. Woe _is_ the hot new thing for today's ghosts and undead, and so they all know at least some information about him."

"And what info did you find?"

"Admittedly, not much, despite how easy it was to obtain. All that the dead really know is that he's some sort of 'messiah' for a group of undead who are trapped underground (that's where we will be going actually,) that he's extremely fast and powerful, and finally…" she stared at Barri harshly, "That he has some form of connection to _you_."

Barri goggled at this, before thinking, _Do they suspect something?_ Singer's stare seemed to penetrate her to her very soul.

"I know you're hiding something. If you don't tell us what it is, _we don't go._ I am not risking my life without getting as much information as I can. That's a mistake I learned when I was still among the living. Now _tell me_."

Barri's eyes began to tear up, before mumbling her admission. Sophia put her hand to her ear and said, "Can you share that with the _audience_ , Ms. Lombardi?"

Tears streamed down her face as she admitted: "He's my brother. Or, at least, I think he is. He didn't act like it when he got back up to fight that monster."

Singer shook her head, her eyes, or, at least, onyx shards closed. "I knew it was something like that. Look, we've already agreed to help you out, but just one more thing I need to know: If he starts causing trouble, are we your only way out, or do you have a backup plan?"

Barri looked at her duel disk oddly. "Sansion said that I should challenge him to a duel, but even if he was my brother I'm not sure that he'll agree, or even know how to play!" She sighed sadly. "But it's my only option at this point, so, you know…"

Sophia nodded sympathetically. "We understand, you just have to go with what you got." She put her hands behind her head as she continued on. "Man, it's just like the time my bro and I went to go sightseeing-"

Singer cut her off alarmed. "Sophia! We agreed not to talk about that!"

"Agreed not to talk about- OH! THAT!" She put her fist on her heart as she declared in an exaggerated authoritive voice: "DISREGARD EVERYTHING YOU JUST HEARD CITIZEN, THIS DOES NOT CONCERN YOU!"

Singer put her head in her heads, wondering: _Why, why, why is she our only method of transportation?_ Barri, on the other hand, was just confused with the whole ordeal. _Um, okay..?_

 _ **Setsuna's Household…**_

The tea was nice, Merlin had admit. While he wasn't much a tea drinker himself (on Safehold, most people either drank coffee or alcohol, or, more likely, both.) With that finished, and the dishes put away, they got down to business. Sansion spoke first.

"To be honest, miss Setsuna (i'm not the best with japanese suffixes or whatever they are, is miss okay?), I wanted Merlin here to speak with you for three reasons. First, to have another person familiar with the 'agent of fate' experience as it were explain sort of what they do. Like a job fair, but with advanced quantum mechanics! Second, to help explain some of the spiritual and magical forces of this world more thoroughly than he has heard, though I would prefer to have Koenma explain it eventually, considering his greater experience with the subject. Finally, so that I can… explain a few secrets I've been keeping at this time from, well, everyone."

Setsuna raised an eyebrow. "Have you already told him about your past?"

Merlin answered for the sorcerer. "I actually overheard it when he was having an arguement with Joseph. I know about his previous life as Pierre-"

"You know the bare minimum, I'm afraid." Sansion interjected. Two pair of eyes watched him as he began to explain. "I was born Pierre Richàrd in the year 1926." Merlin's eyes widened as he heard this. "Yes, I am over 80 years old, though as you know Exalts have a greatly extended lifespan, at least in their Exalted forms. I grew up in Western France, away from the eventual German war front, but even then we still felt many of the effects of the war. I wasn't in a concentration camp, but it was still a bad enough time be a Frenchman.

"I come from a long line of, if you can believe… morticians. We ran the local graveyard and funeral home, and so I was taught various burial rites and such. Thinking back, and remembering what I was taught during one of my stays in Creation, this was a sign that I was destined to become a Chosen of Endings. In any case, I inherited the place after my parents died, since I was an only child, and ran it pretty well if I do say so myself. Until 1990…" He stared at Merlin. "That was the year of the _first_ wave of exaltations descended."

Setsuna and Merlin both looked at him with curious expressions on their faces, though it was the latter who spoke. "The _first_?"

"Indeed. You, Merlin, are the Sidereal of the second wave, along with Lily, Giacomo, and, I suspect, Woe. I was part of the first wave along with Joseph, a Russian man named Arteom Morozov (a Lunar Exalt), along with, I suspect, our enemy. In any case, shortly after I first exalted, I discovered a spell which allowed me to travel to Creation, and there I was introduced to that monster we call the Celestial Bureaucracy. After that, I discovered Joseph while he was serving in the Middle East, and Arteom along with his family in the village they lived in. I didn't know about the existence of the enemy, which I believe is due to his connection with the Ebon Dragon, Primordial of Deceit and Treachery.

"As you know, I am a sorcerer. What that big book I gave you _didn't_ tell you are the steps to become one. It involves five stages: First, the Sorcerer must learn humility in some form or fashion. Second, you need a teacher, which was difficult for me at first as I was mostly self-taught. Third, you must go on a journey, which for me was traveling to find the other exalts. Fourth, you need to perform an act of courage. And… finally, you must make a sacrifice of some significance. In my case…" He pointed to his eyes. "It was my eyes. However, that is just the requirements to get initiated into the _Terrestrial_ Circle of Sorcery. To get into the next level, the _Celestial_ Circle of Sorcery and the second of three, I had to make a _larger_ sacrifice. Giving up your eyes is one thing, but to go higher I had to get creative." He looked away, gathering the will to speak further, before eventually admitting, "It was my past life. That was my second sacrifice. As far as the world knows, a young couple named Michel and Mary Richàrd tried to have a child, but it was stillborn. They never tried again within their lifetimes. And thus, I cannot access my normal human state because _it is no longer there._ And if I did have the potential, somehow, to get to the final circle, the Solar Circle of Sorcery, I would probably have make a sacrifice on par with erasing my family from history. That is the cost to learn the art."

Merlin was stunned to hear this. "Sansion… Pierre, I cannot believe you had to go through with that…"

"Save it, for the most part I chose the path I took willingly. If there is anyone who has suffered through much, it is you, Lt. Commander Nimue Alban."

Merlin raised an eyebrow at this, while Setsuna raised both in a worried expression. Sansion nodded. "Yes, using my magic I overheard the conversation you had with Giacomo. I know your history, and for that, I apologize. It wasn't something meant for my ears."

Before Merlin could retort, Setsuna asked a question. "If you may pardon my curiosity, what history does this man have?" Upon hearing this, Sansion began to chuckle.

"You might want to ask, what history does this _woman_ have, actually!" A look of surprise crossed her face as she looked at the now shy-looking man who sat before her. Creasing her eyebrows, she looked to Sansion to explain, but it was Merlin who answered.

"Yes, yes, I have a, shall we say, _unique_ history." And with that, he began his explanation.

 _ **A Few Minutes Later…**_

She walked through the door to the house, taking her shoes off by the door. Walking along the hallway, she heard voices speaking in the parlor. _Does Setsuna-san have someone over? Now that I think about it, she did mention something along those lines yesterday…_ Sneaking up to the edge of the door, she tried her best to eavesdrop, but was startled to hear a man's voice call out to her.

"Ms. Osaka, you are perfectly welcome to join in on this conversation."

Entering the doorway, she was astonished at what she saw. Across from Setsuna was a large man with long black hair and mustache and wearing black and gold shirt and pants, and next to him a weird man with fire for eyes and wearing blue armor, along with clutching a crystal staff. She questioned the man's knowledge of her name.

"Who are you, and… how do you know my name? For that matter, how did you know I was there?"

He raised a hand, then extended one finger as to count. "First, due to my lack of eyes I have been using a spell which allows me to see spiritual or magical energy." He raised a second finger. "Second, you are not as sneaky as you think you are. We heard the footsteps. And the door opening."

"Oh." She blushed for but a second at her mistake, before a serious look appeared on her face. "Now, can you answer my other questions? I'm sorry if that's a bit blunt, but-"

Setsuna raised her hand. "I can do that for you two." She pointed at the man with the staff. "Karin, this is… Sansion the Savant, a Sidereal Exalt, sorcerer, unwilling Celestial Bureaucrat, and a man with an interesting history."

Sansion muttered under his breath, "I'm glad she added the 'unwilling' part."

"And his student, Merlin Arthrawes, also a Sidereal and a man with an even _more_ interesting history."

He bowed to Karin. "A pleasure to meet you, my lady."

"And as for how he knew your name, I've told him about you in the past. Though I am surprised he managed to guess who you were."

The sorcerer smirked. "I am an agent of fate, guesswork is for amateurs."

Karin still had more questions, however. Raising an eyebrow, she asked, "What's a 'Sidereal Exalt'? Is it like an Ascendant? And why are they here to talk with you?"

Sansion began an explanation to answer her question. "No, an Exalt is not like an Ascendant, at least in terms of method. An Ascendant obtains their power by training with a digimon partner and unifying their thoughts together, allowing them to transform into one being and therefore unlock great power. An Exalt is someone, gifted by the gods, with an item called an 'Exaltation'. In the item's place of origin, it was an invisible thing which sought out people who strived to conquer extreme adversity. In this world, they are found in cards, which, randomly or not, have found their owner somehow. Now, Ascendants and Exalts start off quite different. Ascendants usually have quite a lot of personal power with which to fuel their various powers. Exalts, on the other hand, generally don't have great power reserves but instead have a higher _skill_ level with that power, and a much greater selection of powers to choose from and use. Anyone can fire a beam of energy if they poured enough energy into it, but an Exalt can either do it cheaper, or faster, or in the case of some Solars, just _better_.

"However, Ascendants still start off stronger, and remain that way for a while, at least for the next few centuries (and yes, Exalts have greatly extended lifespans). After a while, however, not only do Exalts catch up to them, they actually _beat_ them quite drastically, though that kind of power usually takes _millennia_ to achieve, which is an amount of time very few Exalts reach. Until then, Ascendants beat them, but Exalts will always be like a younger cousin to the Ascendants."

Merlin was stunned at hearing all of this. Not because of what was said, but of something else: "Did you even breath during that explanation?"

Sansion glared at him. "You're not one to talk, and I think you know why." Merlin shrugged his shoulders in response, before looking at Karin intently. "Have I see you before?"

Before Karin could reply, Setsuna did it for her. "She's also Sailor Sedna, a dimensional traveller."

"SETSUNA! Why would you-"

"Karin, they already know who I am, and who's living here. And they are currently based in _Rome_. We already know their secret identities, I have no doubt that they can keep ours safe." A thought popped in her head as she said this, and she turned to Sansion. "How is Rome, by the way?"

The two men frowned. "It's seen better days. The government's declared martial law after all of the incursions, and the citizens are frightened. The property damage alone is staggering, and we'll need to figure out some way to repair it all, or we're going to pay for it."

Karin tilted her head inquisitively. "What incursions?"

Sansion gave her a critical look. "What do you mean, 'what incursions'?"

"Is there something terrible happening in Rome, right now?"

The fires in his eye sockets burst into an inferno as he stood up. "Something terrible? SOMETHING TERRIBLE?! Take a look, woman!" With a quick chant and a snap of his fingers, an image appeared on the table in front of them, which showed all of the destruction the city had suffered so far. Karin gasped as she saw all of this, while Setsuna's eyebrows furrowed. Merlin, meanwhile, quickly grabbed Sansion's shoulder to pull him down. He motioned to Setsuna.

"Can you grab whatever electronic device is nearby, and look up news for Rome?"

Karin immediately pulled out her cellphone, pushed a few keys, then shook her head. "It's all just celebrity stuff and a few articles on migrants."

Sansion's face became one of understanding. He and Merlin said the following at the same time: "The Ebon Dragon."

Karin tilted her head slightly. "And what is that?" Sansion's reply was swift.

"The Ebon Dragon, essentially a titan of deception and betrayal. He's previously shown the ability to rewrite memories and text before, along with video and audio. Only I, Merlin and a girl named Natalie have proven immune to this power. What worries me now, however, is if the Dragon now can extend that power to the internet… If that is possible, in such an, if I might be frank, technologically dependant society...

...then we may be facing an even greater up-hill battle than before."

%\%\%\%\%

Cliffhanger, dun dun dun!

And thus, the true extent of the difficulty our heroes face has revealed itself. After all, if the enemy can control all of your communications and memories, than how can you be sure that you are fighting anything at all?

 _ ***WE INTERRUPT THIS PROGRAM, DEAR CITIZENS, THAT ALL OF YOU SHOULD ALWAYS TRUST IN YOUR OWN MEMORY OR JUDGEMENT! FRIEND COMPUTER SAYS SO, AFTER ALL, AND NOT BELIEVING FRIEND COMPUTER IS TREASON. TREASON IS PUNISHABLE BY DEATH!***_

Paranoia reference aside, this is going to make things significantly harder for the heroes of the story, not to mention the people! If no one is able to hear their cries for help, what are they going to do to save themselves?

Setting that aside for a moment, this is the Exalt's introduction to at least two of the Sailor Senshi. No, the Senshi are not going to be getting involved in this story, they will be having their own mess to deal with soon (Neos United/Apophis Rising, anyone?) While they won't be helping, I at least wanted to establish some connection between the two before the end of the story.

Next chapter, I intend to show off Lily's adventures in the Digital World along with Maria and Davimon. This little "arc" is going to be the longest of the separate adventures, and may (by that I mean: probably will) span multiple chapters. That way I can introduce the three of them to the Kung-Fu dragon master himself! (And no, Lily is not going to be his partner. He's not going to have one, and that will be explained later.)

Barri is off to confront Woe, and so Sansion calls in Sophia and Singer to help with transportation and diplomacy, respectively. While I prefer the Metal Man's gang to be it's own separate entity, they are most certainly going to be having interactions with the heroes. As for why Singer cut off Sophia when she started rambling, it wasn't because the story was embarrassing, I can tell you that. It's a little something that, like everything else, will be explained later on.

And just to clarify, yes, Exalts have the potential to be much stronger than the Ascendants, it's just in their very nature. Unfortunately, that kind of power takes thousands of years to obtain, and by that point either or both sides are dead due to either the Great Curse making them go psycho or just old age. And it's going to take the Exalts centuries just to catch up to the Ascendants in power, so you're not going to see Sol beat down Omega X anytime soon.

Oh, yes, I almost forgot, I finally explained Sansion's backstory! Yes, it is an interesting tale, and it demonstrates the trial and tribulations of being a sorcerer in Exalted. This is something I'm hoping to do for the rest of the cast as well, starting with Joseph, finishing up Giacomo and seeing where it goes from there!

I think this just about covers everything for this chapter, guys, let me know if you have any questions with the story or any critiques with your reviews, I love getting them and I will always answer them either within the next chapter or by PM. Thank you for your continued dedication, and I will see you next time!

Sincerely, and Truthfully,

Critian Caceorte


	18. Chapter 18: Treguna, Mekoides

_**The Digital World/April 8th, 2010…**_

Maria and Davimon stepped through the portal with their packs on their backs, ready to take on the world ahead. Davimon seemed to calm as he breathed in the… I guess digital air? In front of them was a large forest, with trees that truly towered over them. What was seemed slightly strange, albeit a little interesting was the mix of tropical and temperate trees in the mix. Conifers, large oaks and redwoods intermixed with palm trees and large amazonian vines, with just a few apple trees thrown into the mix. On the ground were berry bushes, brambles, ferns and what seemed to be a few unique plants thrown into the mix. There were bushes with flaming fruit, trees with leaves whose edges glinted sharp in the sunlight, and other strange creations. As the two of them stared at this wonderful, wide world in front of them, their thoughts were interrupted by what seemed to be a coughing fit coming from behind them.

Turning around, they saw Silber coughing up a storm, her face clearly in pain as she knelt on the grass. What seemed to be data danced around her as she quickly lost her strength. As she fell down onto the ground, Davimon raced over to help her up. Maria exclaimed in shock: "Lily, what's wrong with you?"

Silber could only weakly reply as she continued her hacking fit. "I… don't really… know. When... I… stepped through… the portal… I just… felt so… ill… What's wrong with… me?" And with that, she passed out.

Maria quickly searched through her pack for a survival handbook Joseph had given her. Rapidly flipping through the pages, she tried to find the cause of the problem as Davimon noticed her rising temperature and thus started pouring water on her face. This set off a series of shivers from Silber as she moaned weakly. He quickly tried to think of a cause himself as he did this, and then a thought struck him.

"What if this is due to the Exaltation? I mean, you're not suffering any adverse effects, right Maria?"

She nodded as she considered this. "Yes, I feel fine, but… are you sure it's the Exaltation? I mean, what if it's because of some sort of… allergy, you know?"

Davimon froze up, as he took his turn of deep thinking. "I… actually doubt it. I mean, it's possible, but realistically plenty of people have lived in the digital world, so I'm not sure that there could necessarily be people who are 'allergic' to it. Then again, if she already has some form of allergy in the human world, it could be triggered by a digital equivalent, but even that's sketchy, due to the material-to-digital difference between the two mediums. It'll take further research, but honestly we should just try and find a Digimon who can heal her soon. It's a better option than just sitting around here and watching her suffer."

A gasp came from the woods to the left of them, and as they turned they saw a draconian digimon running up to them. He shouted to them: "What's going on? What's wrong with that human?"

Davimon was quick to respond, even as Maria stared at the newcomer. "When she entered the Digital World along with us, she started feeling ill almost immediately, and quickly passed out. We have no idea why, and she's getting worse by the minute!"

Even as this exchange was going on, Maria was looking at this strange creature. He was a small (about the same height as a bedpost) silver-scaled dragon wearing a stone-grey robe which covered his head in a hood. When he had ran over to meet them, he was carrying a large weapons holster which he had quickly disappeared into… somewhere. Now, as he assessed Silber's condition, his face grew determined.

"I think I can try something, let me just…" He quickly punched a nearby tree, breaking it in half. Immediately he placed his other hand on Silber's face as he shouted: " _ **Devoted Spirit Style: Revitalizing Strike!"**_ A wave of light soon exploded from his outstretched hand as covered Silber's body. She stopped shivering, and her fever went down slightly, but she was still unconscious. "There. That should prolong her health. But we really need to get her to an actual healer soon."

Maria nodded in gratitude. "Thank you sir for helping us. Can you please tell us your name?"

The lizard nodded, a small smile appearing on his face. "Yes, of course. My name is Artedramon, a master of martial arts. I have been wandering the Digital World for some time now," he frowned as he continued on, "Though my memory has a few holes in it. That's actually why I undertook my journey in the first place, I think, because I wanted to remember my life, but ever since then it's gotten worse and worse."

"I'm dreadfully sorry about that."

"Oh, that is quite all right. It's my fight to undertake, not yours. Though, I suggest you try and experience as much of what life offers as possible. If your life is filled with so many memories, after all, can you truly forget everything? But that's enough philosophy for one day. We need to hurry and travel. I believe the nearest village is actually quite close to here. If you don't mind, we should leave."

Picking Silber up and hoisting her onto one of his shoulders (Maria was still unsure how that was possible) they quickly ran off into the woods.

 _ **The Tregunamon Village/Just in Time…**_

Pruning the bushes in her garden, she stopped to drink from a nearby stream. This stream went through the entire village, with wooden bridges spanning the gap to allow travel to either side. As she surveyed the village, she heard someone running up to her and calling her name.

" _ClericTregunamon! ClericTregunamon! There are friendly Digimon who need your help!"_

" _Where?"_

" _They're by the Mayor's office!"_

She ran as fast as she could, carrying her medical kit and magical items with her.

 _ **The Entrance…**_

The three of them managed to find the nearest village, but were astonished to see the Digimon bustling about. They were all evolutions or variants of the "Tregunamon", a special kind of Digimon which resembles possessed clothing. As the town healer ran closer to them, they took a good look at her. She resembled a white and teal priestess' robe which seemed to move of it's own accord. She carried with her a bag of medical supplies and what seemed to be some sort of magical staff. As she approached them, she shouted as she pointed to Silber.

" _Is this the patient?!"_

Maria replied. "Yes, that's her!"

She knelt down by Silber's side and pulled out what seemed to be a magnifying glass. When she pointed the glass at Silber's body, the glass glowed, and she moved it back and forth as if she could see what the problem was. After a few moments, she muttered under her breath.

"What is it?" asked Davimon.

" _From what I can see, it's very… odd. Normally these kind of symptoms show up from toxins and the like, but I'm detecting nothing in her body. In fact, with one exception, she should be perfectly healthy."_

Artedramon interjected. "And, what would that exception be?"

" _Well, she seems to be…"_ she sighed as if she was about to say something she couldn't believe. " _Her data's being modified."_

This elicited quite the surprise from Davimon. "Wait, hold up! How is that possible? She's a human, not a digital entity! How would she know how to modify her data?"

The healer sighed. " _First, it is possible for a human to modify their data in select circumstances, though I've only heard of one so far. Second, this appears to be an unwilling modification. It's almost as if the environment is modifying her data, instead of the other way around!" She raised her staff, and a bright glow surrounded Silber. "I can't stop the modification, not at this stage. But, I can at least alleviate the symptoms." She patted the young woman's head, eliciting a small moan from the unconscious fighter. "I suggest you all stay here while she rests, I can't do anything to help if she's moving about."_

She motioned to two other digimon, one which looked to be a noble's robe from a Renaissance Fair. The other was a Revolutionary coat, tricorn hat included. " _NobleTregunamon, RevoTregunamon, over here!"_ Nodding, the two hurried into the clinic to pull out a stretcher to carry Silber on. Lifting her up, they carried her gently back in.

ClericTregunamon looked back at the remaining three. " _Now that the emergency has been dealt with, why don't you tell me your names and, perhaps, your story."_

Davimon nodded and decided to go first. "My name is Davimon, a former resident of Witchenly. I am the current partner to this human here."

Maria took her turn. "My name is Maria Costa, a human from a country called Italy, and Davimon's Tamer. I have to admit, the Digital World is something else, to put it mildly."

And now, for Artedramon. "My name is Artedramon-"

This got ClericTregunamon's attention. " _Wait, Artedramon? ...Is it really you?"_

He was befuddled at this questioning. _Have I met this woman before?_ He asked tentatively, "Do… I know you from somewhere..?"

She nodded excitedly. " _Yes, you traveled through this village 15 years ago! I was just an ordinary Tregunamon then, but you helped protect the village from raiders! After helping the injured villagers recover, I decided then and there to become a physician, and, well, here I am!"_

He nodded, his memory providing brief glimpses of the past. "Yes, I remember a little bit of that. Sadly, my memory's starting to go, so I don't remember much."

This drew her concern. " _How old are you?"_

He shrugged his shoulders. "Even if I was keeping track, I've probably forgotten it by now." _Along with most of my martial art techniques,_ he added in thoughts, to his regret.

She nodded sadly. " _Well, your time may be approaching soon if your memory is this bad."_

He nodded in reply, a similar expression on his face. "I know." Then, his face grew determined. "However, that doesn't mean I can't still go a few rounds with whoever tries to attack the innocent! Mark my words!"

Davimon chuckled. _Yeah, the old-timer's still got his fighting spirit._

"In any case," the dragon continued on, "I am a master of martial arts derived from various styles. I have spent most of my life wandering about the digital world, and, apparently, from what ClericTregunamon has said, have been going in circles." He sighed after saying that last part.

ClericTregunamon raised a hand as to ask a question. " _If I might ask, who is your friend?"_ After saying this, Artedramon turned back to look at Maria and Davimon as well. Davimon tried to think of a way to respond, before eventually answering.

"Her name is Lily, but in that form she is known as Silber. It's a bit strange, but…"

ClericTregunamon caught to what he was trying to say. " _You don't know how to really explain it yourself."_

"Correct. She's something called an 'Exalt', essentially, just think of her as sort of a superhero, though her specialty, if I remember correctly, is the wilderness and survival."

This caught Artedramon's attention. "And despite the fact that this was her specialty, she still has adverse to the Digital World? You would think that this wouldn't affect her…"

ClericTregunamon shook her head. " _Didn't I already explain this? This is something outside of her control!"_ She then paused as she considered something. " _Hold on, why would she be the only one affected this way? Is there something that gives her her power?"_

Davimon took only a second to remember before hastily nodding. "Oh yes! The Exaltation!" Running along, he made his way towards the clinic, with the rest of the group tailing behind him. Running past the duo who had laid Silber on the bed, he took a quick look at her condition before hastily checking her pockets.

"Davimon," asked Maria, "what are you doing?"

"Searching for the Exaltation! If she's the only one being affected this way because she's an Exalt, maybe by moving the Exaltation away from her she'll detransform and won't be affected by the modification! Maria, you're a girl! Search through any of the 'less-than-appropriate' places!"

"WHAT?!"

"Just do it!"

The two of them quickly searched through whatever spaces they could find. It took them a few minutes, before Davimon (somehow) found the silver card (now absorbing data from the environment and transmitting it to Silber) within her hair. "Got it!" The moment he pulled it away, however, it flew into Silber's chest and seemed to… _melt_ into it. Once the rest of the group got over the shock of seeing this, Maria moved her hand closer towards Silber, but flinched back after an enormous cloud of data formed around the Exalt. ClericTregunamon quickly grabbed hold of her shoulders before pulling her away as the cloud grew bigger and bigger until it seemed to cover Silber's half of the room.

Startled at this, Davimon asked the one question on everybody's mind. "What's happening to her?"

The healer could only shake her head at this. " _I… really don't know. I've never seen data streaming in at this extraordinary of a rate. But, now… all we can really do is hope it dissipates soon."_

 _ **Outside the Clinic…**_

As they walked out, they heard a noble voice calling out.

" _Cleric, there you are!"_

ClericTregunamon whirled around to see a suit of armor ride an invisible warhorse (checkered bridle and armor visible, of course) while carrying a large teal and red standard. This was her husband, CrusadeTregunamon. Running to him, she hugged his leg as he patted her shoulder in affection.

" _I was wondering what you were doing. I thought you were pruning the bushes in the garden today?"_

She nodded. " _I was, but these travellers had a medical emergency that needed to be taken care of. Speaking of which…"_ she pointed to Artedramon. " _Look, Honey, it's Artedramon! Remember him from when we were but Rookies?"_

Turning his head to see what she was pointing at, he yelled out excitedly. " _Well now! It really is him! I haven't seen him for so long…"_

Chuckling nervously, Artedramon admitted to him. "Sadly, I don't really remember either you or your wife. My memory has been going as of late, unfortunately." He rubbed his head while the two looked at him with sympathetic looks (or at least what he hoped were sympathetic looks. They didn't have faces after).

" _Well,"_ CrusadeTregunamon said after a moment. " _That really is a bother. Oh well, I guess we can reintroduce ourselves now. My name is CrusadeTregunamon, the mayor of this little village and ClericTregunamon's husband. We are both Ultimate-levels, just to let you know."_

Davimon snapped his fingers as he suddenly remembered something. "Maria, where's your digivice?"

She pulled it out with a confused look on her face. "What do you need it for?"

"Your Digivice has the power to scan Digimon and look up their profiles! I should have thought of this before we entered, but with it we can discover important information. Try it now!"

She nodded, before turning to ClericTregunamon. "Um, excuse me-"

The Healer chuckled, interrupting her. " _Oh, dear, you don't need to ask! Digimon actually expect this sort of thing now, so it's not impolite to scan them."_

"Oh. Okay." Lifting the Digivice, she scanned ClericTregunamon, and a voice responded from the device.

" _ **ClericTregunamon, Ultimate-level Digimon of the Tregunamon family. Loved for her caring personality and equally compassionate healing magic. Uses the moves Helpful Restoration and Dispelling Sphere."**_

"Wow, that's helpful." said Maria, amazed.

"Yep!" said Davimon. "It's a lot of functionality in that little thing."

She then turned to CrusadeTregunamon and scanned him.

" _ **CrusadeTregunamon, Ultimate-level Digimon of the Tregunamon family. Hailed as a great leader and an even greater combatant. Uses his lack of a true body to great advantage, while using the moves Might of the Standard and Ghostly Cavalry."**_

Artedramon chuckled at the woman's excitement. "She's as exciteable as a puppy, isn't she?" _Though I wonder how my profile will turn out…_

She finally turned to him and scanned him. However, his profile was… strange.

" _ **Artedramon, Champion-level Digimon of the Dramon family. [REDACTED] Able to take on most Ultimate-level Digimon. [REDACTED], attacks include [REDACTED]."**_

The rest of the group, upon hearing this, looked at the dragon in confusion. "Redacted?" asked Davimon, a puzzled look on his face as his chin rested on one of his hands.

The martial artist sighed. "Perhaps it's because of my memory going out. Or because I am cursed, or there was something that I didn't want to remember. It could be many things, but all I know now," he shook his head, "my journey to regain my memories is going to be more difficult than I realized." He looked at ClericTregunamon. "Is there a place prepared for our stay?"

CrusadeTregunamon thought for a moment, before stating. " _There is an Inn in the village, and I'm sure that they will be willing to accept any business they can get. Not a lot of people travel to this part of the Digital World, after all."_

Maria bowed her head in gratitude. "Thank you sir, I appreciate you helping us. We are in your debt. Is there anything that we can help you with?"

He thought for a few seconds. " _Actually, can we take a raincheck on that? We used to have a bandit problem around here, but a day or so ago they mysteriously disappeared, so I'm not sure what else you guys can help us with."_

The topic of bandits brought up Artedramon's attention. "Wait. Were the bandits Ninjamonkimon?"

ClericTregunamon shook her hand flimsily. " _Partly, though there were plenty of other Monkimon in the mix as well."_

"Well, I _might_ have taken care of the ninjas."

The group stared at him in surprise. CrusadeTregunamon was the first to speak up. " _Define 'might'."_

"Well, as part of my wandering I decided to take a _stroll_ -"

ClericTregunamon and CrusadeTregunamon instinctively flinched for some reason. Artedramon was confused at this, and decided to find out the reason for such.

"What's with the flinching?"

ClericTregunamon apologized. " _I'm sorry sir, it's just… after your last trip through this village, we quickly learned that whenever you said you 'went on a walk', it meant something far more different… and dark."_

Artedramon was confused at this strange notion, before trying to remember what happened on that previous walk. Apparently, he was discovering to his discomfort, that just like a certain _vampire_ , the terms "walk" and "stroll" became deadly euphemisms.

Shaking his head, he disregarded this newfound fact. "In any case, while I was walking, this group of Ninjamonkimon tried to ambush me. They, especially their leader, discovered that such things are not good for their health."

The rest of the group sweatdropped at this turn of phrase. _Does he have to say it so casually?_ Maria questioned.

Artedramon continued on. "While I dealt with most of the Ninjamonkimon, I never saw any of the other Monkimon. Which means, if _none_ of them are showing up, that either they are too afraid to show their faces, _or_ …" He left off, but Davimon wanted to hear all of what he was going to say."

"Or what?"

"Or their amassing their forces to get their revenge on me."

Once again, the others grew nervous at how casual he said these things. _Once again, he says it without even any hint of danger in his voice._

ClericTregunamon decided to intervene, her tone like that of a parent trying to steer herself out of a conversation with her child. "WHY _don't we just get you guys all settled in, then we can see what you guys can help us out with! Doesn't that sound like fun?"_

Thus the strangest fellowship known to man was finally complete.

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Let's review this fellowship, shall we?

We have an American Army Vet given powers of perfection, A Welsh Ninja Robot Samurai transformed into an Agent of Fate, A French Mortician who studied sorcery for twenty years, A reporter given the powers of the goddess of the moon (currently undergoing some strange download process) who is able to turn into a werebird, Her partner, a psionic Blank forced to become a Chaotic Neutral Elf bound to an evil Digimon in the disguise of a human assassin, A young man who died and was brought back as an Undead scourge (no Warcraft pun intended), his twin sister who is able to convert "attacks" from a card game into physical blows, his best friend who is actually a half-demon with the ability to inflict one of the greatest diseases _not_ known to man, A woman who is the Tamer for a Digimon based off of a biblical king, and, to finish it off, a digimon martial artist who has lost most of his memory and is in those years where he wishes those hooligans would just get off of his lawn.

Yeah. Kind of puts things into perspective.

In any case, this is the first Digital World chapter (it certainly won't be the last), and in it Maria and Davimon meet Artedramon. He's going to have a fun time with this group :) . Also, Silber seems to be having some trouble. What could this mysterious "download" thing mean? What does it have to do with her Exaltation? Will she actually wake up and do something? You'll have to look for the next chapter to find your answer.

As for the Tregunamon, perhaps I should explain their origin. For those of you who haven't watched the classic that is Disney's "Bedknobs and Broomsticks," it was a movie about an elderly witch trying to learn magic to help Britain win the war against the Nazis. The final spell she needs to complete her learning is a spell for "Substitutionary Locomotion", a spell that would allow inanimate objects to move under their own will. Her quest to locate the spell takes her to various places within not only Britain, but fantasy worlds as well. When she finally locates the spell and masters it, she uses the spell to animate (not animate as in the art style, but as in making it move on it's own) hundreds of armor and uniforms in the local war museum, which leads to what I regard as my favorite scene from any movie ever: A bunch of animated suits of armor taking on Nazi invasion forces, all the while chanting the magic words for the spell: " _Treguna, Mekoites Tregorum Sadis De…"._ If you haven't seen the scene I am talking about, just do it. It's amazing, and has a bit of humor in it as well. In any case, I named the Tregunamon after the first word of the spell.

Yeah, Artedramon has some memory issues, and they aren't all because of aging. That will be explained eventually, but only by somewhere around Chapter 30, just to name an approximation. I can't just give everything away, after all!

And no, the Monkimon aren't going to take this sort of thing lying down. They have plenty of relatives after all… Hold on, I almost forgot again. In Chapter 16, I forgot to mention the origin behind the Ninjamonkimon: It is literally a shameless rip-off of the monkeys from Bloon's Tower Defense. Sorry, Ninja Kiwi, I'll put a disclaimer in the next chapter! But yeah, I just wanted to get that out of the way.

I apologize for short chapter guys, but I just couldn't see how I could realistically connect the last scene with the next (which will be the start of the next chapter). It's just one of those "it didn't feel right" things. I'll try and make it up, but for now I'll just have to end it here. Thank you guys for your continued viewership, and please send in those reviews! They help me as a writer, and can let me know if you guys need any explanations for stuff you don't get! I always reply either within the next chapter, or by PM, just to let you know. Now, summer's coming around, so stay cool guys!

Your Splendid, Excited Author,

Critian Caceorte


	19. Chapter 19: Gold Claw Squad, Reunite!

_**Disclaimer: I do not own the following: The YYGDM universe, the Sailor Moon franchise, The Yu Yu Hakusho franchise, the YuGiOh franchise, the Digimon franchise, the Safehold franchise and the Exalted franchise. I do not own the following characters: The Ebon Dragon, Merlin Arthrawes, Dialydd Mab, Sailor Pluto and Sailor Sedna. I also do not own the concept of the "Monkimon", as such are based on the Bloons franchise. Neither do I own the concept of "The Deeper Well" (a property of White Wolf Games). All stated objects are rightfully owned by their original creators. I do, however, own the following: the characters of Joseph Cain and Sol the sun knight, Lily Burlington and Silber, Giacomo Ferrari and Bastardo Fortunato, Natalie Taylor, Maria Costa and Davimon (including his whole evolution line), Barri Lombardi, Baldur Lombardi and Woe, Stephen Kalivas, the Metal Man and his associates Anthony, Sophia and Singer to the Despairing Soul, Ivory Stained in Sin, Artedramon and finally the Tregunamon and their evolutionary Line.**_

 _ **A/N:**_ Review time, and boy do I have a lot to cover! (Note: I suggest you guys pay attention to the following explanation, there will be a test after this, class!)

Ford: To explain what I mean when it comes to power levels, first I should probably explain my "system" when it comes to them. I consider there to be three types of power levels: first, actual, well, power levels to represent one's energy reserves and and straight up physical/magical/psionic/whatever might (a good example of this would be your average Super Saiyan); skill level, or, how well someone is able to apply their power to a situation (a good example would be Stand-users from JoJo, or the Smedry family "gifts" from the Alcatraz book series); and, finally, _power skill_ level, a measure of how well you can manipulate your energy to alter or produce new powers. To give an in-universe example, take Yusuke, Kurama and Kuwabara. Now, Yusuke, due to his heritage, has huge power reserves and shoot out enormous lasers (a.k.a. "Spirit Gun Shots"), but he doesn't really do anything more complicated than the "Shotgun" technique, really. Thus, he represents the power level. Now, Kurama has the power to make plants grow. I can tell you straight up that making a plant grow does not take a lot of energy to use, and it doesn't take a lot of refinement. What makes Kurama a dangerous combatant is his ability to use different plants for different situations, essentially using his head to trap his opponents. He represents the skill level. Finally, we have Kuwabara. Now, Kuwabara doesn't have the best power reserves (since he's still just human) and he really doesn't have Kurama's mind (which would be a terrifying thing, now that I think about it.) What he does have is his manipulation of his power, the Spirit Sword. Besides learning to alter it so that it doesn't require a physical hilt, he's also learned how to make it grow longer or shorter and, most impressive of all, how to manipulate the energy so that it can slice through _**anything**_. This is incredible, _especially_ by Exalt standards. This manipulation of his trademark power serves as an example of the power skill system.

This final measure of power is the one that the Exalted universe runs by, the "Essence" system. It runs from 1 to 10, with one being the minimum for a living being, and 10 being either omniscience or omnipotence (sometimes both). An Essence 10 character could know that they were in a fanfic, just to give an example of power. All Exalts start off at least Essence 2, which is the minimum power level for doing things at least approaching superhuman, and can, depending on what type they are, start all the way at Essence 4 (by spending your points at character creation), the level at which you can do your classic superhero stuff (Think: Superman). As for the Essence level of the Exalts in the story, here they are, along with their starting values if they've had experience, in parentheses:

Joseph/Sol: 4 (2)

Lily/Silber: 3 (3)

Sansion: 4 (3)

Merlin/Dialydd Mab 3 (3)

Giacomo/Fortunato 4 (4)

Natalie/The Elf (technically counts as a Being in the Exalted-verse) 2 (2)

Baldur/Woe 3 (3)

Big Bad Ivory 4 (2)

Now, with that said, all Essence levels have a minimum age requirement you have to fulfill in order to even _think_ of spending the time necessary training your body to reach that level. In my case, I'm disregarding the requirement for levels 2-4 as Exalts can start off at those levels. However, it takes quite a lot of time to reach Essence 5 alone (about a century of life, do note that when somebody exalts they are considered to be immediately put onto a new, longer lifespan instead of merely extending their old one). Essence 7, where all of the abstract stuff _really_ comes into play, takes, if my memory serves correctly, 935 years of life to meet. Since Essence 7 is where I believe that the Exalts can truly begin to rival and even _best_ the Ascendants, this is the reason why I gave an estimate of a millennia for the Exalts to do this. After that, with Essence 8 and beyond, they're massacring _pantheons_ (which is why the Primordials cursed them with the "Great Curse" in the first place).

As a final example before I get on with the story, an Essence 2 character can grant themselves more success with a task, or do an ordinary martial arts maneuver, but faster/stronger/whatever. And Essence 4 character can block or dodge a single attack perfectly, or if they're a martial artist can recreate Walter's "threads" from Hellsing. And finally, an Essence 7 character can walk on stars or kill _languages_ , or mentally assimilate other beings, or replace whoever someone sees with another face from his memory, or-

 _ **Underneath Rome/April 8th, 2010/Very Late at Night…**_

Shadow transportation was a new thing for Barri. As such, she quickly discovered, it gave her quite the upset stomach. It took quite a lot of time for her to finish emptying her stomach, with Sophia patting her back like she was a babe, and then it took a few minutes more for her to recover. Singer waited patiently for her to stand back up before calling out to the darkness.

"Padre di Craneo! Padre di Craneo! It is I, Singer-"

"Shh!"

A quick shush from the shadows in front of her interrupted her, and what looked to be a skeleton walked out to meet them, though Barri really couldn't see him in such darkness. As he looked back and forth among the group, his voice seemed to convey worry.

"Our lord has just finished getting through the introductions, and is a bit cranky at the moment. If you would be so kind, can you please come tomorrow? Or, maybe next week?"

Singer shook her head. "We cannot wait any longer. Sophia and I need to evaluate this man's position for our boss, and this girl here-" she pointed to Barri, "needs to ask Lord Woe about something. On this, we cannot compromise."

"Are you sure? He's really not in the best of moods, and you might anger him more than he already is! He really wants to get back at the living for something, and I'm sure he would not have any qualms about unleashing his wrath on the three of you. Again, please come back some other-"

" **Time? Servant, who do you speak to?"**

He froze, as a young man emerged from behind him. Barri tensed as she recognized the form of her brother, now in this Exalted state. Despite a lack of eyes, the shadows that took their place seemed to move as he observed the group in front of him. When he saw Barri, the shadows froze for but a moment before continuing their sweep across the room. After doing so, he regarded Singer, who was standing in front of the other two.

" **Singer to the Despairing Soul… My servant here has told me about you. An Undead, not bound to the curse of this land, with onyx for eyes and a voice to calm, or raise, the dead. An… interesting specimen, though I found your dedication to the living to be strange."**

"Where I come from, the Undead are regarded with respect by the living, not fear." Humbly, she continued. "A large portion of that is due to my own effort and the efforts of my friends, but it is still a culture of respect."

" **Interesting. I need to hear this tale of yours. But, that can wait."** He turned to Sophia now. His eyes creased for a moment before nodding. " **Princess."**

She froze when he said this. For the first time in quite a while, she began to stutter as she tried to ask a question. "W-w-what are you… you talking about? I'm, uh, I'm not a princess, or, uh, anything, so, uh, I don't know why you-"

Annoyed, he interrupted her. " **I can see your aura. I know you're royalty, though I do not know of what kingdom. Yet another tale to be told, I guess…"** He trailed off while looking at her expectantly, his gaze showing his desire to hear this unique tale.

Her stuttering continued as she tried to deny the prize. " No no no no no, I can't, really, I can't tell you, I signed a contract, I really… ha, really can't say anything, so, uh… pleasedonttellanyoneaboutthisilikemyjoblikereallylikeitandidontwanttoloseitbecauseispilledmysecretspleasepleaseplease…" This hyperventilating was eventually drowned out by the sobs of a woman in an impossible posistion.

Barri looked at all of the people in the room. _Yep. Another day in the land of the odd._ As she sighed, Woe's attention was drawn to her. Looking at her, he eventually said, " **I saw you when I awoke… after I defeated Mahanmon. You're a psychic, aren't you?"**

She nodded. "Yes."

He grew silent, before changing the topic of the conversation. " **Well, Servant, we have… guests. See the guests to…** _ **appropriate**_ **quarters, would you?"**

Padre nodded nervously, escorting the three of them to creepy rooms, with beds made out of wood covered in mildew, and sheets that resembled webs more than pieces of fabric. Along the way to these… interesting living arrangements, Barri looked to Sophia, who was still crying, before turning to Singer and raising an eyebrow. Singer looked to be debating internally, before admitting:

"Part of the requirements to sign on as a Lieutenant in the Metal Man's group was signing the equivalent of an NDA. We can't reveal our pasts to anyone who has not signed the same agreement unless he says so, or risk losing our jobs." She paused, before continuing on. "I don't think he did that to really strongarm us. Just the opposite. All of us have had some… trauma in our lives and I don't think he wants us to relive it. While I agree with the sentiment, I strongly disagree with the methods." She shrugged after saying this. "But, he's the boss, and honestly, no one else is going to hire someone who looks like I do. Sophia, maybe; Anthony, sure; The Professor? Definitely. But Me? Hell no. So, I don't argue with it."

"That seems… weird. Wouldn't you be hampering with the recovery process if a person couldn't actually talk about their history with someone else?"

Singer looked at her with a questioning look, before speaking in a colloquial voice Barri had never heard her speak in before. "Girl, let me tell it to you straight. That man has heart, and he can do wonders with organizations and his powers, but when it comes to stuff like feelings? He doesn't seem that way at first, but he really is as cold as the metal he's made of." At seeing Barri's worried expression, she quickly amended her statement. "I mean, he has feelings, but he really keeps them inside. Whenever he does let them out, there's generally a purpose behind it. To inspire, to motivate, to criticize, all of that sort of stuff. But give him a casual situation, and he really can't give out genuine feelings, no matter how much he's actually feeling them."

The conversation drifted off until Barri asked another question.

"So, do you know who he really is?"

"Excuse me?"

"I mean, the agreement meant that you could know the history of everyone else who signed, right? So, do you know who the Metal Man really is?"

As they turned another corner, Singer nodded affirmatively. "Yes, but let's just say it's interesting and leave it at that. He gets really touchy about it."

 _ **The Hotel/At that time…**_

Joseph stared at the ceiling as he contemplated what he was going to do to rally the people. _The best plan would be to get to the US embassy. I'm sure they'll have some troops there. I still have a few favors owed to me._ As he quirked his lips, old memories came to him as a new option presented itself. He quickly shook his head as he tried to dismiss the idea. _No, I can't involve them in this. This is way beyond their capabilities…_ As he thought this, his cell phone rang.

He got up, wondering who could be calling at this time. As he looked at the caller I.D., his eyes widened. Quickly, he answered.

"Hey man."

A slightly Italian, slightly Brooklyn accent responded back.

" _Joseph, when were you going to invite us to the party?"_

"Robin, I have no idea what you're talking about."

" _Look, Joseph, you can't fool me. Telepath, remember? I know you're hesitating to get the guys back together. Well, you don't have to worry, I already did it when this whole mess started."_

"...What do you mean, 'get the guys back together'?"

" _I mean, we're outside your window."_

Dropping the phone onto the floor, he rushed to the window, opened it and was astonished to see several familiar faces waving back with grins on their faces. Rushing down the fire escape, he began to bombard them with questions upon reaching the ground.

"How did you get here? How did you know this was all happening? How did you get everyone here on such short notice? Why do you-"

One of the men cut him off short. He looked to be a young Japanese man with slightly-long black hair, a tanned complexion and military fatigues. His tall stature, uncommon among the Asian races, along with his large muscles made him slightly unique, but not really startling at first glance. Joseph, however, knew differently. This man, Tom Nakajima, had startling secrets just like the rest of them did. "Look, Joseph, curfew's in a few minutes, and we need to get inside. Can we stay at your place for the night?"

The surprise hadn't left Joseph's face yet. "Tom, my room only has one bed and limited floor space, it's not going to fill all of you guys!"

"Ah, nonsense." Robin said. He was an Italian-American man also wearing his fatigues, with stubble that almost crossed the border to "Full-on Beard". His long, albeit greasy black hair split off into different directions like a terrible case of bedhead. Now that Joseph had a moment to contemplate, the man had a passing resemblance to Sansion. _Probably a good idea to keep the two away from each other, don't need any ideas to be exchanged between the two._ "We didn't need beds in Afghanistan, we don't need them here! We'll just sleep on the floor!"

 _What part of "limited floor space" did he not get?_ Turning to the others, he asked them. "All of you okay with this, uh, arrangement?"

They nodded back, and reluctantly he led them up the fire escape and into his room. Once in the now-cramped space, he turned to Robin.

"Okay, fess up now. Why did you reform Gold Claw squad, Robin?"

Gold Claw squad was a paramilitary squad formed during the early months after the first Rajita invasion. Noticing a sudden increase in supernatural abilities among some of it's troops, the U.S. government decided to create a secret squadron full of these "metahuman" soldiers, as they would later be called, with Joseph and Tom being called in as squad leaders.

"Because of a dream I had."

Joseph was about to respond that such was impossible before remembering who he was talking about. Robin Anthony was a victim to exposure to the various chemicals the Rajita had left behind in the first invasion, and as such, while his physical prowess was about the same as most humans, he gained several new senses such as thermal vision, telepathy, ki sensing abilities (although Joseph was still doubtful about that one), and, most important of all, clairvoyance in the form of prophetic dreams. Being a lucid dreamer, this skill was a substantial help to the squad during their years of service and especially for the various emergencies that kept on cropping up around the world (whereas the Japanese heroes were mostly centralized within their home country).

"When was this? And what did the dream tell you?"

"A couple of weeks ago. Basically, in the dream I was minding my own business within the dream when a large black dragon popped and tried to destroy everything in sight." At the mention of the dragon, Joseph's eyes popped open. "Wherever he went, he left behind what looked to be a desert that just reeked of offal. Then he turned to me and said, 'Are you going to just let this happen? I thought your "heroic spirit" prevented such passivity from happening? Come to Rome, and see if you can stop this storm of despair.' The dream ended right then. I'm telling you now, I've never had a dream tell me that much so long before the event, even during our adventures together."

"And so, you gathered the rest of the guys without me knowing? In just a few weeks?"

"Peterson helped." Robin said, pointing his thumb at another member of the squad.

Thane Peterson, a man so embarrassed by his first name that he only went by his last one. He had dirty blonde hair which meshed well with his pale skin and, to a degree as he _was_ an army man, skinny body. Another victim of the invasion, he was the only member of the squad who had been actively experimented on by one of the minor Rajita scientists. Such experimentation had made him oh so slightly superhuman, but his biggest strength was his teleportation ability. Able to take amazing amounts of mass with him as he did so, the biggest flaw for his power was that it took a lot of time to actually perform. Still, in the end it saved lots of time usually spent in Airplanes or on ships. He nodded when his name was called. "Yeah, it wasn't too difficult. I just needed to know where they were, and thankfully most of them were in places I had already been to, so that helped. Except for Ross, who was still knee-deep in Mormon Country."

Ross Young ruffled his hair with his hand, embarrassed. As the most religious member of the group, he was often the target for a few light jokes from the squad, though there was still plenty of respect given to and by him. His encounters with the aliens made him into a world-class contortionist and rock-climber, thanks to some ape-like traits popping up suddenly, as well as a man who was almost impossible to see or hear when he was on the prowl. As such, he was the squad's scout, and had helped them numerous times when Robin's sensate abilities couldn't be relied upon. He retorted back, "Hey! At least I was sensible! We found Rocky over here on the beach in a speedo!"

Roger "Rocky" Johnson snorted when he heard this. The final member of the crew, and the token black guy, he did his share of the jabs at the other squad mates without remorse. The final Rajita victim, he got his nickname for his power, which was the ability to make his body transform into stone (a lot like the Thing, but he wasn't stuck in that state constantly). Aside from the jokes, he didn't really talk much, but he was still as dependable as the rest of them. "Hey, I was on vacation with my wife, I don't know why you're all getting on my case for that."

Peterson shot back. "Oh, it wasn't the situation that had us concerned, it was just the choice of clothing that made us worry for your mental state, Rocky. I mean, did you really have to choose one of the smallest speedos around?"

He growled at this retort, before sighing. "Look, can we just move on from that? Joseph, how you been?"

Joseph stuttered his reply, his mind still overwhelmed at what was happening. "Um, well, good, I guess, it's been a little interesting around these parts lately."

Tom looked at him. "Joseph, interesting is what _I_ am. This?" He motioned to the open window as military patrols marched around the street. " _This_ is war. In any case," his stare intensified, "has Sol been getting any action?"

Joseph raised his index finger. "Only-"

Robin interrupted him. "What he means is: Yes, constantly."

 _Damn Telepaths._

' _Yeah, I can feel your love from here, now tell them the truth.'_

Joseph sighed. "Ever since I got here, it's been chaos. Lovecraftian monsters falling from the sky, eating the populus and destroying all of the nearby architecture. Gangs of empowered humans doing the same (well, not the eating part). To say the Sun Knight has been getting some action is an understatement."

Ross gulped. "Um, have you gone," he made the "crazy" motion with his finger, "already?"

Joseph shook his head, though his expression didn't lighten up. "No, but I'm still a bit pessimistic about it. I've got people watching my back now, just in case."

Robin cut in. "Like who? The wizard guy you met years ago?"

Joseph stared at him, his surprise evident, just as it was on the other's faces. Robin sighed. "Yes, I know you had a talk with some wizard guy years ago, you forget my senses are quite good. Though, when I tried to probe his mind, I think he knew I was there. People don't often chuckle when someone is trying to read their mind."

He answered, "Yeah, like him, along with a few others, though their off to do their own things so that we can prevent whoever's in charge of this from expanding his reach further. So, it's just me alone to protect all of Rome."

Peterson looked up at the ceiling, deep in thought. Rocky asked him why. "'Me alone, to protect all of Rome'… Could use some work, but you can make that into a song lyric." Exasperated sighs erupted from the rest of the squad mates.

A thought came to Joseph's mind. "Wait, Tom, you never said what you were doing when you got recruited into this."

Tom nodded. "Around the time that Robin and Peterson came to pick me up, I was having a discussion with-" he stopped to chew his lip. Unfortunately for him, that was enough time for Peterson to make a quip: "Puppy dog over here was talking to Puppy-Sensei about Puppy stuff. You know, howling at the moon, pissing on hydrants-" After a glare from the so-called "Puppy Dog", Peterson stopped mid-sentence.

Tom continued. "I was having a discussion with my Alpha in Japan about the recent events when these two Chucklenuts came along, interrupted the somber mood and trashed the place. I still don't know how they glued that chair to the ceiling in such a short amount of time…" he said this, continuing his glare at the two. The two just grinned infuriatingly.

"So," Joseph said, "You all are here to help with the situation?"

They all nodded in agreement. Rocky spoke up, a confident smile on his face: "Boss, we're ready for anything. What do you need us to do?"

Joseph took in the sight of his old squad, before nodding. "Very well then, if all of you want to get in on this, I'm going to need to assign you some tasks. Ross," The man nodded, "you're our best writer, I'm going to need you to create a _diplomatic_ , yet forceful letter explaining the situation to the rest of the EU… actually, do we know if _they_ know about the situation?"

Robin shook his head. "No, the net's gone quiet when it comes to Rome. I don't think this kind of 'Radio Silence' is natural, especially in this day and age."

"Got it, so either the other guys are keeping quiet about it, or they really don't know. Either way, that letter will is our best bet of informing them, though we're going to have to make sure there are no 'sudden changes', if you catch my drift."

Ross nodded. "Got it, Boss, shouldn't be too hard. I've done plenty of talks in church." The others snickered when they heard this. "C'mon guys, I really don't need this."

Joseph turned to Peterson now. "Peterson, it's time you became a mailman."

Deadpan, the man snarked. "Great. Is Puppy Dog going to chase me down the street?" A legitimate _growl_ from "Puppy Dog" made him change the subject. "I mean, great! I finally figured out how to teleport objects without taking myself along, so that should be fine."

Turning to the rest of the squad, he said: "Rocky, Tom? You two are joining me in doing some humanitarian work. That's going to get the people's affections the quickest."

The two nodded, before Robin piped up. "Let me guess: You want me to scout what these guys are doing?"

"Yep, that'd really help us out right now, since they've gone silent."

Robin tilted his head in thought. "Though, the dragon thing is going to be hard to detect with how stealthy it is."

Joseph looked at him, confused. "How did you know that?" Robin pointed at Joseph's head. "Aahh. Well, in any case, let's sleep for the night. Find a spot if you can guys, it's going to be crowded around here."

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A short chapter, but I just needed to get something out there.

I'm sorry I haven't posted in awhile guys, I've been busy with finals. And whenever I did have time to be writing for the story, I've mostly been _planning_ future stuff, such as Barri and Woe's duel (just so I don't have to come up with it on the spot). I've also been designing future characters, and a second arc within Creation, the main setting of _Exalted_ , that will take place during the time of "Apophis Rising" and a little after that (so that the Exalts and friends won't be around to help with what happens, shame on me I know.) I'm planning on three arcs for this story in total:

Exalted on High: _Desecrated Sands_ (the first and current arc, taking place in YYDGM-01 with Ivory as the main villain)

Exalted on High: _Consecrated Leaders_ (the second arc, taking place in Creation, set a couple of weeks after this arc finishes)

Exalted on High: _The Master of the Mystery_ (the third and final arc, taking place on Earth once more a couple of months after the second arc, with Angau/Mahanmon as the main villain (a small spoiler, but not much of one really, he's too durable to be taken down that fast))

So yeah, I have _plans_ for this series ("Muahahahahaha…").

One thing I have failed to mention before, for any Exalted players reading this, is that I am not using perfect defenses. Nope, none, nada. Why? Because while Perfect defenses are cool mechanically, I don't like them storytelling-wise. I'd rather the character either gets hit, or dodges/blocks in the nick of time, rather than a stupid no-sell, unless it's for comedy purposes. Other people have their own opinions, and I have mine.

Another thing for Exalted players: Be aware that I do have my biases when it comes to the different charms, so you might not see your favorite stuff in action. I will, however, try to include different things to make battles more unique and exciting. This _miiiiiiiiiiiiiight_ include Black Mirror Shintai.

...DUN DUN DUN!

What other biases do I have when it comes to Exalted? Hmm…

I really like my Malfeas charms, more than others (thought some of the SWLIHN stuff has me interested as well.)

My favorite type of Exalt are the Alchemicals (they're awesome+cool magical robots! That can turn into _**BATTLE CRABS!**_ What's not to like?)

I really like martial arts stuff (just like in DnD).

The imagery of "Glorious Solar Saber" and it's counterpart really catches my eye (along with Overdrive Charms).

I'm a big fan of Third Edition.

I think that about covers it, as far as I know at least.

Well if that's all that comes to mind now… Thank you guys for your patience and continued reading, please send those reviews, I'll do my best to respond to them in either the next chapter or PM! AAAAAAAAAAAND GOODNIGHT VIETNAM!

...What did I just do?

Continuing the Struggle with Presentations and Papers,

Critian Caceorte

P.S. Apparently, "Lunalight" monsters are awesome. I am just now finding this out.


	20. Chapter 20: We need to go Deeper!

_**A/N Notes:**_ Finally, after such a long delay, Exalted on High is back! I am excited to be working on the story once more, and I apologize for such a long stretch of time without updates. My time this summer has mostly been spent completing my Eagle Project before I turned 18, along with preparing to head off to college (where I am currently at)... as well as just a _smidge_ of playing Terraria (TOTALLY just a smidge, nothing more at all). While I am going to soon be working with a University workload, I will still be trying to achieve more regular updates from now on (though I will also try to mention any delays that come up). And with that explanation finished, it is time to continue _Exalted on High…_

Enjoy...

 _ **Setsuna's Household/April 8th, 2010/Later into the Night…**_

Two figures paced around a table. One, a woman with a secret identity which made her a target for foes from across dimensions. Another, a man with fire for eyes who had left an old life in the dust in the pursuit of power. As they paced, two other figures, sitting, watched in apprehension. There was going to be an argument. Anybody could see it coming.

"Let me get this straight," Karin said. "You're saying that not only are you not allowing the Senshi, the Spirit Detectives or anyone else to help with this mess, you can 'feel' that a situation is going to be popping up soon which will require our attention, which is _why_ you aren't allowing us to help."

"I know you're a dimensional traveller, who has been to many worlds. I've done my own fair share of travelling, albeit to a very limited selection of locations. Why is it that you find it hard to believe that I have a degree of clairvoyance?"

She put her hand on a nearby wall and leaned on it. "That's not what I'm upset about! I'm questioning your judgement that you guys can't possibly require our help, despite what you just showed us! Rome is in disarray! Why do you have to be so stubborn-"

Sansion interrupted her by pulling out a deck of cards, then laying 9 cards down on the table. The others took a good look at these cards.

"Aren't these Tarot cards?" questioned Merlin.

Sansion said nothing, and instead shuffled the cards back into the deck. Handing the cards to Merlin, he said "Shuffle, then lay nine cards down."

He did so, and the result revealed the same nine cards from earlier. Dumbfounded, he repeated the action to get the same 9 cards once more. Sansion grabbed the cards, before giving the same instruction to Setsuna. She obeyed, and was not startled to see 9 very familiar cards staring at her once again. Irritated, Karin grabbed the cards, shuffled them, and placed nine on the table, although to her astonishment they once more revealed the same 9 cards. She quickly looked through the rest of the deck to find out that it was indeed comprised of different cards than the ones laid out. Looking up at the sorcerer, she questioned this strange "coincidence".

"What is with these cards?"

"They are attuned to my Essence, which is in itself tied to Fate. As such, they are a bit more reliable than in the hands of some "miraculous" charlatan. Now, you've taken a quick look at them. Try to see if you can find a few familiar faces in the mix as I explain.

"This," he said, pointing at the first card, which depicted a woman wearing a golden Sailor uniform, "is Major Arcana #2: The High Priestess, a card which represents wisdom, female mystery and magic."

"Wait," said Karin. "Doesn't that look like a younger Sailor Galaxia?" Setsuna nodded silently, as indeed it did look like the Senshi's former enemy at a younger age. Sansion continued on as if he had not been interrupted.

"The next card is the Reversed Ace of Cups," he pointed to a card depicting a sad phoenix watching a snake be carried away. "In this reversed state, it represents emotionally draining situations and chaos."

"The third is Judgement, an unusual card to be seeing so soon." It depicted three great beasts fighting against a large, dark monstrosity.

"Hey! Those are the three Egyptian Gods!" said Karin, recognizing them.

"Indeed they are, though what they are fighting is hidden from sight. In any case, you can imagine what this card represents. The End of the World, Gotterdamerung, all of that fun stuff. These three cards represent events from the past, and, just like them, the next three cards represent the _relative_ present, not necessarily the actual one.

"To start off this section of the Nine-Card spread, the Eight of Wands." The card this time showed the Inner Senshi, in their earlier years, along with Sol, Sansion and a large bearded man covered in silver tattoos. _That is probably that Arteom man Sansion was talking about,_ thought Merlin. "The Eight of Wands in it's upright state represents new horizons and quick drastic changes, alongside great opportunities, as represented by the young Sailor Senshi and the Exalts of the first wave. It is quite the optimistic card, truthfully, much like the card after it.

"The fifth card is the _Two_ of Wands." It depicted Sailor Moon, Yugi, Takato, Takuya and Yusuke lifting their arms together into the air. "It represents new, profitable partnerships and business deals. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what this card represents."

"The foundation of our alliance," said Setsuna.

"Exactly. Now, the Sixth card is unique because it represents the _actual_ present, as such, this," he pointed to a card with the Ebon Dragon plainly portrayed on it. "The Devil, is a worrisome prediction. Temptations, confrontation of one's inner evil, yada yada, it's a bit bad to get. What is _worse_ than this is the card after it, the first card in the "future" section and the one which represents the very near tomorrow."

He pointed to a card which had the same snake from earlier, now enormous and biting chunks out of skyscrapers. "The Tower. Any idiot who bases the meaning of a tarot card on it's name or appearance would think that Death is the worst card to draw. In truth, the Tower takes this position, as it represents, doom, destruction, and, worst of all, the concept of 'pride cometh before the fall'. _This_ is why you are needed to be on the lookout for any new threats, because one _will_ come, when you least expect it.

"Moving away from that, the next card is the World." The card depicted a location which Karin was very familiar with.

"That's the Nexus…"

Sansion nodded. "I've heard of this place, though my own dimensional travel does not involve it as a waypoint. A door to any dimension you can think of... Supposedly."

"In any case," he continued on, "the final card of the spread, while representing the far future, is strangely very clear. The Ten of Cups." The card showed a bird's eye view of the futuristic wonder that would be Crystal Tokyo. "A land, a time, whatever, where dreams can come true. The true happy ending that all long for, but few obtain. This is the future all of you work so hard to make a reality." He paused for a moment, before thinking out loud: "I wonder where us Exalts will be in all of that…"

Setsuna shook her head. "I have no idea, truthfully. Whatever unique nature the Exalts have prevents easy prediction of their future actions."

"Yes, I forgot to tell you about that, actually. It's one of the unique natures of the Celestial Exalts that their threads in the great Loom of Fate are too 'big', meaning that they are one of those few individuals truly capable of choosing their own destiny. Entities like the Ebon Dragon and his associates are instead _outside_ the realm of Fate, which tends to cause some… _issues_ with dimensional stability.

"Speaking of time and fate, that reminds me, we have a field trip to go on."

"Field Trip?" the other three questioned simultaneously.

The sorcerer smiled a wicked grin as he snapped his fingers, causing a portal to materialize. "Mrs. Osaka, Ms. Setsuna, Merlin… It's time we went _**deeper**_."

 _ **The Deeper Well…**_

H.P. Lovecraft once remarked "The process of delving into the black abyss is to me the keenest form of fascination.". Much like this figurative abyss, the Deeper Well was shaped like a multi-layered parking lot, with an alarming hole in the middle, from which came light in all visible colors. Around this hole was established a large steel fence, coated in rust. In fact, most of the metal floor was covered in rust as well. Around the perimeter of the area were various prison cells of differing shapes, sizes and entrapments. The doors to each cell alone were so different, it was as if whatever people created them had vastly differing opinions on how the project should be done. The only true similarity between the cells were that, compared to the floor, the bars gleamed like pure moonlight. Where one prison cell should be, instead there was an old fashioned elevator situated directly in front of the area. The gate was as rusted as the floor, while the inside was in pristine condition.

Right next to the fence surrounding the gaping hole was a rusty metal desk with some form of advanced computer sitting on it's left side, with a decent-looking monitor on the right. Mouse and keyboard were of course included, though compared to the computer to their left they looked more appropriate for a computer with Windows '95 installed. The monitor was on displaying various status messages which read, if one were to pay attention:

 _792: Layer requires maintenance, 2 Prisoners._

 _1186: Layer Functional, 5 Prisoners._

 _1493: Layer Functional, 1 Prisoner._

 _1834: Layer Functional, No Prisoners._

And so on. Around the desktop were several computer chairs, obviously built more for cost effectiveness rather than the user's comfort. To another side was a military-style bed, with only basic sheets to sleep under. And finally, situated above this industrial mess was what appeared to be the night sky, though if one were to take a closer look, the stars looked suspiciously more like LED's. Over all, a place built for it's purpose, and nothing much besides.

Of course, no one was actually paying attention to all of this, due to hidden speakers playing "The Clash" at a very high volume.

 **(Cue The Clash -** _ **Rock the Casbah**_ **)**

" _Now the king told the boogie men, 'You have to let that raga drop…'"_

"TURN THAT OFF!" shouted Karin, her eardrums nearly bursting out of her head. Setsuna had her hands covering her ears, and Sansion tried to do the same while also searching for where he left the remote. Merlin, meanwhile, only suffered for a nanosecond before disabling his auditory senses. Sansion fumbled with the remote for a second or two before finding the right button, and pausing the song, granting the group a moment of newfound relief.

 **(End Theme)**

"I apologize, I must have hit the button for the audio systems or something while moving about," Sansion said sheepishly, the light of his eye-flames reflecting off of his teeth. "I guess that's what I get for leaving the cursed thing in one of my armor compartments."

No was paying attention to this, as they were finally checking out their surroundings. Merlin noted, "The floor is quite rusty. Is there water damage? Is it even possible for a place like this to _have_ water damage?" Karin was checking out the cells and noticing how unique each one seemed to be, thinking to herself: " _So, there's no sort of standardization? Has the person who designed this place never been to an actual prison?_ " Setsuna, on the other hand, was checking out the computer in front, noting the various accessible tabs. Sansion was changing the discs inside the audio system (because the place obviously had one), and, making sure that the volume was at a more appreciable level, played some more 80's pop.

 **(Cue Styx -** _ **Too Much Time on My Hands**_ **)**

"Well, it seems all of you are getting acquainted with the place. Any questions you want to ask?" Sansion queried.

"Why is every cell different?" asked Karin. "Wouldn't that be highly impractical?"

Sansion sighed. "Due to the nature of timelines, with how conflicting they can sometimes be, there is a surplus of cells designed with a certain, powerful villain in mind. For example, say you have someone in one timeline with powers over electricity or magnetism. Obviously, we can't put them in a cell that has metal in it, hence why this cell over here," he pointed to one of the cells amongst the rest, "has no metal in it whatsoever. Or, in another timeline there's a guy who can shoot lasers. For him, we need a room that can absorb the power of his blasts without too much trouble, like here," he now pointed to a cell coated in red crystal. "That's why each cell is so different. Unfortunately, this does mean that cell maintenance can be a bit of a chore. Any other questions?"

Setsuna spoke up now: "I assume that the computer is displaying prisoners currently interred, and the numbers refer to levels?"

Sansion shook his head. "Not just levels. _Years_. Every year in the Deeper Well is a level in it. Due to it's… _interesting_ place in both space and time, time does not occur in the normal sense, at least within the year. In fact, if you enter here in November, for example, you can actually go to any date _within the year_. Anything past those boundaries requires using the elevator over there," he pointed to the elevator," to go to a different year. However, doing so comes with a cost that the Gates of Time do not." At her intrigued look, he continued. "The Gates of Time are special due to their creator, Lord Chronos the Primordial and his wife, the first Sailor Pluto. Due to their immense power, when they created the Gates of Time no cost was really needed beyond obtaining permission to enter (a.k.a. The Time Key). That's why it needed a guardian in the first place. Uther, on the other hand, did not have this divine power at his disposal, for the most part."

"Who?" asked Merlin.

"Don't worry, I'll explain that later. Back to the topic at hand, since the Deeper Well was created from mostly technological means, with some help from Queen Serenity, it required more of an… _upkeep_ if you will in order to travel to the past."

"What about the future?" questioned Karin.

"Time takes many shapes and forms, but one of these is reckoned much like an arrow, always traveling forward. Since we are naturally progressing forward, or at least perceive that to be so, it is by comparison incredibly easy to travel to the distant future. As for the past, imagine Time now being like a sports car, traveling at fast speeds. Suddenly, you passed the exit you were supposed to take by mistake. In order to get back to that exit, you have merge out of the metaphorical highway, find a way to make a u-turn of some sort and then get back to that exit before continuing on you journey. Of course, there are limits to this metaphor, but this isn't the time for that, if you'll pardon the pun."

"Anyway, the cost of traveling a year into the past in the Deeper Well is the same as if you had aged a year normally. So, if you were to travel 5 years into the past, you would age 5 years, with the exception that you would not grow physically by doing so, your current body would just age while retaining the same height and weight. This 'cost' is why Exalts, and especially someone like Merlin, are selected as Wardens, due to our extremely long life spans. Which actually segues nicely to the Prison's creation."

"Uther, no last name known, was… sorry, _will be_ , the Chief Engineer of Crystal Tokyo, in service to King Endymion and Neo-Queen Serenity." A picture of a man with a clean, white haircut and a graying short beard appeared on screen. His eyes showed an evident wisdom within, and despite the wrinkles on his face he showed no signs of weakness due to age. "Records on him are sadly sparse, but from what I found, he seems to have been born in Creation, something I found interesting, and apparently was a Sidereal Exalt, and due to small bits of evidence I found I believe he will be a Chosen of Secrets. Using his architectural skills, his long life span and an veritable army of worker robots, he designed and managed the construction of the Deeper Well, using the help of the future Queen to enable the prison's chronological travel as he went. Like I told Merlin before, the work began in the year 3025 AD, and ended in the year 500 BC, going backwards as you can tell. Of course, by the time the work began, he had already begun planning for it for _15_ years. Considering how many levels were actually constructed, and the necessary uniqueness of each cell, that's actually a very impressive time."

"Thankfully, when designing the Computer systems, he was quite helpful in providing some basic information necessary for the Job." Sansion clicked a few times before a page appeared on the screen. It read at the top " _A Beginner's Guide to the Multiverse_ ". Gesturing to Karin, he said, "Care to check it out? For accuracy, of course."

She nodded, then moved over to the keyboard and mouse. Looking at the page, she didn't see anything that contradicted with what she knew, until she got to one section which caught her attention:

" _ **Methods of defying dimensional laws:**_

 _Of all of the alleged methods of breaking the normally constant rule on not being able to enter a dimension another self of yours is in or has been to, only three have been proven true. First, there is a special chemical substance capable of serving as a gel-like 'barrier', which surrounds the body in question in order to work. See:_ _ **Ascendant Files**_ _. Another Method is the use of extremely powerful wizardry or the like, though this of course has it's own consequences (See:_ _ **Neutronium Golems**_ _). Finally, discussions with Lady Cosmos have revealed a third method which is sadly no longer usable to us in this current time, or anytime really: D4C. While what this acronym stands for remains a mystery, what little is known of it is that it used to be a Stand (See:_ _ **Dimensional Catalog/JOJO-******_ _) capable of transporting the user and objects the user desires to alternate dimensions, even ignoring dimensional law, but whatever user had this powerful stand no longer exists in any dimension whatsoever, for reasons unknown. Beyond these confirmed three, there are many rumors of other possible methods, but none have been confirmed beyond a shadow of a doubt."_

Karin turned to Sansion. "D4C?"

He shrugged. "I have no idea, I wasn't the guy who created this guide. You have to realize this was probably made with information we obtain in the future. Though my money's on either _Dimensional Disturber: Differential Diamond Core_ or _Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap_."

Turning back to the screen briefly, her next question came quickly. "'Neutronium Golems?'"

Sansion cringed at that request. "Don't ask. It will haunt your nightmares for the next few centuries. To provide a sterile explanation, they're the guys who make sure that someone like Thanos doesn't suddenly pop out into another dimension with no supernatural powers or forces available to it whatsoever and crush it. Anything else, you need to find on your own."

"In any case, the computer also comes with a registry for various dimensions, as well as internet access, though it's quite slow due to chronological synchronization. And finally, the computer can also perform one very special task."

With that, Sansion typed into the Computer, imputting a command:

 _Open Portal (Creation)_

With that command given, a ripple began to appear in the space opposite the elevator, before emerging as a full-fledged, multicolored portal. The others stared at it in shock, not expecting this sudden performance.

"Well then," said Setsuna. "I guess we shouldn't have been surprised, what with the dimension hopping some of us have been through. Though, I must ask, can this portal be created anywhere else?"

"Actually, no. Have any of you investigated the properties of different, coexistent worlds in dimensions before? No? Well, to put it like this, imagine a dimension as a folder in a computer system, with Earth and all of the normal planets in that universe occupying one, massive sub-folder, and places like the Spirit World and the Digital World being much smaller sub-folders in this same system. While you can directly travel to them on rare occasions, sometimes the physical, or in this case metaphysical, distance is too large to be done reasonably. Thus we use portals, which can minimize the distance required. However, even the portals we create, when done on Earth, are still too much of a metaphysical distance away for us to be able to use them. The Deeper Well, once again, due to it's unique properties does not have as much of a distance problem, though there are also specific spells and the like which can prevent this travel. Hence, if there really is a Heaven (in the Christian Sense) beyond the Spirit World, it would most likely be inaccessible to us, even in here." Sansion paused, gasping for breath.

"To make a long explanation shorter, Creation is too far away from Earth metaphysically for portals created on Earth to reach there, but portals can still reach there from here. Did you three get all of that?"

It took them a few seconds to process, but they nodded their heads. Merlin raised his hand, asking a question. "I just remembered that you said that our Exaltations came from the Deeper Well itself. Can you elaborate on that?"

Sansion grimaced at that. "Not very easily. The Exaltations do indeed come from the Deeper Well, and in fact the room in which they were kept is right over there," he pointed to one of the cells, which looked remarkably normal compared to the others. "It's empty right now, since the Exaltations have been dispersed. However, I honestly don't know how a) They got there, b) How they escaped from the room (or if they had been released) c) Where they were created, or d) _How_ they were created. It's admittedly a mystery even to me, though I am sure the creator of the place knew the answers to those questions."

Merlin frowned, not liking the answer he had recieved. Looking up after a few moments of silence in the room, he asked "I take it this is the end of the tour, then?"

"Not necessarily. Merlin, if you can provide a fingerprint for a moment?"

Merlin tilted his head in confusion. "For what?"

"As I've said before, I wish for you to take my place as the Warden of the Deeper Well, due to your mechanical nature making you an ideal candidate for such. In order to transfer ownership of such, I need you to provide some manner of physical identification so that… Aaaaaand I just remembered what you were."

Merlin smiled at that, just a bit, before saying: "Here." With that, he pulled off one of the gloves he was wearing, and seemingly broke off one of his fingers. The wires from such, now exposed, shifted along with the metal surrounding them before changing into the familiar shape of a USB drive. Plugging the detached appendage into the computer, he turned to see the horrified expressions of his companions. "What? I'm Trekking it."

Karin was the first to respond. " _Trekking_ it? What does that even mean?"

Sansion was just as flabbergasted, though for different reasons. "You've seen Star Trek?"

"Yes, it was actually quite popular in my time. I believe, before the first encounter with the Gbaba, there was actually some legislation to name one class of ship _The Enterprise_. In any case, what I meant by Trekking it was that I was using my mechanical nature in some, I guess inhuman, way, like Data from _The Next Generation_. Always been a big fan of him."

Sansion held up a finger, about to say something, but dropped in favor of moving on. "I'll transfer the authorization over now." With that, he inputted a few commands, accompanied by several _pings_ until he looked up from the monitor. "It's done. Now, can you please take your finger out of the computer? This is already too much like a sitcom for my liking."

Merlin did so, as the others looked away. When that was done, Sansion turned to the two ladies and said, "I apologize for monopolizing your time in this way, but I'm glad I was able inform the two of you about this facility. This is also something that I'm going to have inform Mr. Akiyama about, just so the dimensional travelers of this world know about this place. In any case, it's time Merlin and I get back to Rome and wait for the others."

 _ **10 Minutes Later…**_

The two Sailors left to go home (through one of the portals back), while the two Exalts traveled back to Rome to wait for the others. And all the while, a sticky-note attached to the music player lay there, unread.

 _Topics to bring up for tour:_

 _-Origin of Deeper Well_

 _-Portal to Creation_

 _-Discussion about Exaltations_

 _-Transfer of Ownership_

 _-_ _ **OPERATION: THROUGH THE FIRE AND FLAMES**_

%\%\%\%\%\%

Oh, Sansion, what an Opportunity you have wasted.

Operation: Through the Fire and Flames was originally going to be one of the things Sansion would discuss during the tour of the Deeper Well. However, no matter how many times I rewrote it, I just couldn't make the explanation enjoyable, interesting, or even _necessary_. As such, I'm leaving it as a cliffhanger here so that I can bring it up later. Frustrating I know, but believe me, what I was writing for that part of the story was just not of good quality.

Speaking of quality, I realize that the transition before and after the Deeper Well was a bit rough. Originally, I was going to include a scene with the Monkimon (remember those guys?) planning an attack on the Tregunamon village, but if Operation: Through the Fire and Flames was causing me trouble, _**THIS**_ random, short scene was giving me writer's block. It's also partly why I was unable to move the series forward for MONTHS. Thus, I cut it. I was not about to have the flow of my story disrupted by literal barrels of monkeys.

With that said, I give all credit for this chapter and chapter 16 to Kanius for allowing me the use of the two Senshi for this small part of the story. I really am trying to make it so that my story doesn't cause contradictions with his own canon. Will there be other appearances from other characters in YYGDM? Maybe, though there is a chance I will just say they visited rather than write it out, as much as I hate doing so.

Finally, I haven't admitted this yet, which I really should have when I began promising things left and right, but I am on a bit of a deadline. I have until about May of next year to finish up the series (due to other obligations that will most likely come into play then, yes I know I seem make a lot of those), so I might start shortening things arc-wise a bit (Especially with college courses coming up). Do I plan on Arc's 1 and 2? Certainly, however, Arc 3 may or may not get the boot depending on how fast the other two arcs get done. Admittedly, I don't have any new protagonists planned for Arc 3, so isn't necessarily _essential_ , but it's still something I would like to do. Another thing I am definitely planning on is a long epilogue for the characters (Spoiler Warning: Sansion and the Professor get up to some big hijinks in a few years!) since I feel that these characters need to be able to fit into the future to come. And also because I can do endings at least halfway decently.

And so, the story of Exalted on High continues once more. Please give a review for the story, I make a habit of responding to them, and please, have a safe evening.

So Long, Farewell, and all of that Jazz,

Critian Caceorte


	21. An Explanation, and where we're going

Hello there! It's your friendly neighborhood fanfic writer here! And today I bring... less than good news. For those of you who've actually paid attention to my story for some reason, you would know that I haven't updated this story since last August. Obviously, that's a bad thing, and obviously, there are reasons why. More than one sadly:

1\. My Academic Standing: If you've seen my profile and stuff, you would know that I haven't been doing well since midterms started in Fall Semester of my freshman year at college. Well, to be quite frank, that hasn't really changed since then. I am currently on what is known as "Academic Warning" (the step before Academic Probation), with my grades I have been denied my initial major, and I have a set of parents yelling at me for "wasting money on me". As you can see, I haven't really been in a good mood to write Exalted on High for some time now.

2\. My deadline: You guys did not know this, but there was a... let's call it a "deadline" I had before I would have to stop writing stories and do other things with my life. Thankfully, this deadline is no longer in effect, and as such I do not need to worry about this reason anymore. That's one down, and...

3\. My Forum Migration: For the past few months I've been spending more and more time on forum sites like Space Battles and Sufficient Velocity. While they are fun to be on, this random browsing does cut into my free time. It does not help that I'm already writing another story on SB. Which leads onto my next point...

4\. My Creative Muse: I have a problem. I come up with too many story ideas, and I don't know what to do with all of them. To be perfectly blunt, just yesterday I somehow came up with an idea for a Persona/Warhammer 40k fic. While I'm thankfully in no shortage for story ideas, these constant new ideas keep distracting me from getting my current stuff done. This is a problem, and for years, I thought it was just something everyone dealt with. Evidently, that is not the case...

5\. My disabilities?!: Back in elementary school, my teachers recommended that I, as a child, get tested for Autism and ADD. They did not do this, because they "didn't want to put a label on me". And so, I had no idea that this had ever happened until after my first semester at college, where my poor grades prompted my parents to think "Maybe he _should_ get tested..." and only then tell me about the warning. Needless to say, I was quite irritated to learn that I potentially had one or more learning disabilities, did not know about them and was denied potential help from my schools all these years because of my parent's beliefs. All together, this also had an effect on my ability to write, and I was not able to really concentrate on anything for several days afterwards. I myself am looking to get tested in the next few months.

6\. The story's flaws: And thus, we finally arrive at the biggest reason of all. Exalted on High is an Exalted/Digimon/Yugioh/Whatever else I put in fic within Kanius' YYGDM setting. As such, authorial competency demands that I do the proper research into ALL of these areas of the fic. However, I did not do this prior to beginning the story. As such, there are an astonishing number of critical research errors, especially when it came to Exalted, which I made. I shall not read off _all_ of the said research errors here, as that would take quite a time to get everything down, but let's give an example with "The Great Curse". Somewhere in the story, and I've forgotten where, Sansion mentions "The Great Curse" and explains it to the other characters. This is spite of the fact in canon where besides the entities responsible for the Curse, only Lytek, God of Exaltations and glorified bauble cleaner, and Jupiter, the Maiden of Secrets, knew about this curse, Lytek because he is responsible for cleaning the darn things, and Jupiter because she is Jupiter. Lytek hasn't told anyone else about it because he's afraid of losing his job, and Jupiter hasn't told anyone because Jupiter. As such, it would be impossible for even a Sidereal to know about the Curse or what it does. In canon, any instances of the Great Curse manifesting fully were simply dismissed by the Reigning Solars at the time as "merely letting out a bit of steam", because these Sons of Guns were quite altruistic back then. If they HAD known about the Curse, guaranteed at least one Solar Sorcerer would have fixed it within a year, or if not them, then Autochton (the guy who made the Exaltations). As it is, to any semi-knowledgeable Exalted fan, the mention of it within the story stands out like a sore thumb.

But we're not done there! While I won't list all of the research errors I made, I do feel obligated to write about the rest of the story's flaws:

1\. Too many Cooks: This story has only 20 chapters, not counting this notice. And yet it has more "Major" Characters within it than it does Chapters! This is one of the things which irks me the most when looking back on this story. I had so many characters, and yet, the only ones had completely fleshed out beforehand and had planned an epilogue for were Joseph, Merlin, Sansion, Baldur, Davimon, Ivory and the Professor. That's it. I had no idea what I was going to do with Barri (wasn't too sure if I really wanted to just give her an Exaltation so that she doesn't die in less than a Century), Lily (what was I going to do with her if she entered Creation?), Natalie (Um, Sudden Raksha because what?), Maria (what is she going to have for an epilogue?), Giacomo (same as Maria) Artedramon (one of my less fleshed out ideas), Arteom (Basically supposed to be Lily's teacher in the ways of Singing in the Woods), the Metal Man (I had a twist planned out for him, then I realized the twist wouldn't even make sense in a Schamalan film, and so I scrapped it), Singer and Sophia (had no idea what to do with them beyond their initial appearances), Anthony (Had no idea what to do with him from the START), and Gold Claw Squad (Why. Do. I. Keep. Adding. New. Characters. Stop. Brain. STOP!). This build-up of characters who were underutilized and planned out caused this fic to start breaking under it's own weight. All I really needed for this story, at least initially, were Joseph, Sansion, Merlin, Lily, Baldur, Maria, Davimon and Ivory. And that's it! Everyone else could have waited at least another 20 chapters for them to make their debut as major characters.

2\. Special OC Decks!: I know most Yu-gi-oh fics have at least one OC archetype or two for their major characters. I had plans for _6_ of them at the very _least_. This is a Capital-P PROBLEM. I was so busy fleshing out Archetypes I wasn't even really writing the story at that point. The only OC archetypes I could reasonably create were Barri's and Kalivas' (Who, despite his being the only one finished, it's also the one with the most flaws. Hence why I'll be redesigning it both in aethestic and strategy). I did not need to create one for Woe, who could just as well play Dark Worlds or Geminis, I did not need to create one Ivory who could just as well play lswarms, and I did not need to create one for Anthony because I DON'T NEED ANTHONY.

3\. You get an Exaltation, You get an-: I had too many plans for just giving out Exaltations without the characters receiving them proving themselves worthy of said Exaltations beforehand. THIS IS A MAJOR PART OF THE EXALTED CANON. This is something which is in dire need of fixing.

4\. Forgot to sign everything in Triplicate: I got permission from Kanius to write this fic. What I did not do, however, was get permission for universe spanning things like the Deeper Well and such, which would be MAJOR artifacts within his world. This is a problem. I also did not think of just making Creation be in a seperate dimension rather than an interconnected, though distant world much like the Digital World and the Spirit World. This is also a problem. Finally, I did not and have not worked out with him what those characters who were or would be Exalted would be doing within the Silver Millennium (Because trust me, they would be THRIVING until then, because Exalted lifespans and all that crap). Altogether, I did not synchronize my story with his intentions and direction, and that, altogether, is the biggest issue of all.

Now that that is all out of the way, where do we go from there? As mentioned previously I'm already writing another fic over on SB, it's been months since I've updated Exalted on High _and I haven't even mentioned_ Under the Waters of Babylon _this entire time!_ For all of this, I am proposing a plan such as the following:

Under the Waters of Babylon (Sailor Moon/Exalted): RIP, it falls to the Wayside, perhaps never to be resurrected within a future time. May give a summary of what the plot would have looked like sometime soon.

The Epic Tale of Gilgamesh: My story on SB (it's actual name is much longer than that, of course), and the one most recently updated. Currently working on the Next Chapter and an Omake after a hiatus due to dealing with Finals and papers and the like.

Exalted on High: I'm reworking it. I can't continue the story and just retcon everything earlier without first making some serious, much-needed edits. So far, I'm in the process of finishing the Inquisitor Archetype and redoing Stephen's archetype (New name: the Incarnas (Cavatina Incarna for the regular monsters, "Blank" the "Blank" Incarnate for the special ones) Strategy: Rapid XYZ deployment and Attribute manipulation, Aesthetic: Cavatina (Musical term for a short musical number without repitition) Incarna will be named after famous bands and artists (So Far: Asia, Crush 40, CCR, the Beatles, Billy Joel and rest assured there will be more) and the Incarnates will be named after Semi-Famous deities of specific elements (Chaac the Rain Incarnate, Charybdis the Depths Incarnate, Sutr the Blaze Incarnate and more). This will take quite a lot of time however in order to get everything for the story right. Don't expect a chapter within the next few days, for example.

And well, that's all I have to say so far. Sorry for the long wait, but, well, things happened. Send me a PM if you have any questions and I will try and answer your questions as soon as possible!

Sincerely,

Critian Caceorte


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